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1     UNIVERSITY  OF     ! 

\CALIFORNIA ,J 


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MALAY   SKETCHES 


LOJNDOJN  .    JOHN  JANE-  TBE  BQDLEY HE\D 


DSsu 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION VS. 

I.    THE   REAL   MALAY I 

II.    THE   TIGER 12 

III.  A  FISHING  PICNIC 19 

IV.  THE   MURDER  OF  THE   HAWKER              ....  25 
V.    MENG-GfiLUNCHOR 31 

VI.    AMOK 38 

VII.    THE  J6GET 44 

VIII.    THE   STORY  OF  MAT  ARIS 53 

IX.    LlTAH 64 

X.    THE  ETERNAL  FEMININE 83 

XI.    IN  THE  NOON  OF  NIGHT 92 

XII.   VAN   HAGEN   AND  CAVALIERO IO3 

XIII.  THE   PASSING  OF  PftNGLIMA   PRANG   SftMAUN        .  .112 

XIV.  BSR-HANTU 147 

XV.   THE  KING'S  WAY l6l 

XVI.    A  MALAY   ROMANCE 179 

XVII.    MALAY  SUPERSTITIONS         .           .           .           .           .           .  192 

XVIII.    WITH  A  CASTING-NET 211 

XIX.    JAMES  WHEELER  WOODFORD    BIRCH    ....  227 
XX.    A  PERSONAL   INCIDENT          ....                        .248 

XXI.    NAKODAH   ORLONG 270 

XXII.    EVENING 28l 


467 


PREFACE 

HP1  HIS  is  not  a  book  of  travels,  nor  is  it,  in  even 
•*•  the  smallest  sense,  the  record  of  a  traveller's 
experiences  in  a  foreign  land.  It  is  a  series  of 
sketches  of  Malay  scenery  and  Malay  character 
drawn  by  one  who  has  spent  the  best  part  of 
his  life  in  the  scenes  and  amongst  the  people 
described. 

These  pages  contain  no  statistics,  no  history,  no 
geography,  no  science,  real  or  spurious,  no  politics, 
no  moralising,  no  prophecy, — only  an  attempt  to 
awaken  an  interest  in  an  almost  undescribed  but 
deeply  interesting  people,  the  dwellers  in  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  and  least  known  countries  in  the 
East. 

The  traveller  will  come  in  time,  and  he  will 
publish  his  experiences  of  Malaya  and  the  Malays ; 
but  while  he  may  look  upon  the  country  with  a 

vii 


PREFACE 

higher  appreciation  and  paint  its  features  with 
a  more  artistic  touch,  he  will  see  few  of  those 
characteristics  of  the  people,  none  of  that  inner  life 
which,  I  make  bold  to  say,  is  here  faithfully  por- 
trayed. 


FRANK   SWETTENHAM. 


THE  RESIDENCY, 

PERAK,  28  March  1895. 


vui 


"  Quel  est  done  cc  pays,  disaient- 
ils  1'un  a  1'autre,  inconnu  a  tout  le 
reste  dc  la  terre,  et  ou  toute  la  na- 
ture est  d'une  espece  si  differente 
de  la  notre?" 

VOLTAIRE 

T  MAGINE  yourself  transported  to  a  land  of  eternal 
^  summer,  to  that  Golden  Peninsula,  'twixt  Hin- 
dustan and  Far  Cathay,  from  whence  the  early 
navigators  brought  back  such  wondrous  stories  of 
adventure.  A  land  where  Nature  is  at  her  best 
and  richest :  where  plants  and  animals,  beasts  of 
the  forest,  birds  of  the  air,  and  every  living  thing 
seem  yet  inspired  with  a  feverish  desire  for  growth 
and  reproduction,  as  though  they  were  still  in  the 
dawn  of  Creation. 

And  Man? 

Yes,  he  is  here.  Forgotten  by  the  world,  passed 
by  in  the  race  for  civilisation,  here  he  has  remained 

IX 


INTRODUCTION 

amongst  his  own  forests,  by  the  banks  of  his  well- 
loved  streams,  unseeking  and  unsought.  Whence 
he  came  none  know  and  few  care,  but  this  is  the 
land  that  has  given  to,  or  taken  from,  him  the  name 
of  a  Race  that  has  spread  over  a  wider  area  than 
any  other  Eastern  people. 

Malaya,  land  of  the  pirate  and  the  amok,  your 
secrets  have  been  well  guarded,  but  the  enemy  has 
at  last  passed  your  gate,  and  soon  the  irresistible 
Juggernaut  of  Progress  will  have  penetrated  to  your 
remotest  fastness,  slain  your  beasts,  cut  down  your 
forests,  "civilised"  your  people,  clothed  them  in 
strange  garments,  and  stamped  them  with  the  seal 
of  a  higher  morality. 

That  time  of  regeneration  will  come  rapidly,  but 
for  the  moment  the  Malay  of  the  Peninsula  is  as  he 
has  been  these  hundreds  of  years.  Education  and 
contact  with  Western  people  must  produce  the 
inevitable  result.  Isolated  native  races  whose 
numbers  are  few  must  disappear  or  conform  to  the 
views  of  a  stronger  will  and  a  higher  intelligence. 
The  Malays  of  the  Peninsula  will  not  disappear, 


INTRODUCTION 

but  they  will  change,  and  the  process  of  "  awaken- 
ing" has  in  places  already  begun. 

It  might  be  rash  to  speculate  on  the  gain  which 
the  future  has  in  store  for  this  people,  but  it  is 
hardly  likely  to  make  them  more  personally  inter- 
esting to  the  observer.  This  is  the  moment  of 
transition,  and  these  are  sketches  of  the  Malay 
as  he  is. 


Jetons-nous  dans  cette  petite  barque,  laissons-nous 
aller  au  courant !  une  riviere  mene  toujours  a  quelque 
endroit  habite }  si  nous  ne  trouvons  pas  cies  choses 
agreables,  nous  trouverons  du  moins  lies  choses 
nouvelles 

"  '  Alions,'  dit  Candide,  '  recommandons-nous  a  la 
Providence ' " 

VOLTAIRE 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

i 
THE   REAL   MALAY 

He  was  the  mildest  manner' d  man 
That  ever  scuttled  ship   or   cut   a 
throat 

BYRON,  Don  Juan 

TO  begin  to  understand  the  Malay  you  must  live 
in  his  country,  speak  his  language,  respect 
his  faith,  be  interested  in  his  interests,  humour  his 
prejudices,  sympathise  with  and  help  him  in  trouble, 
and  share  his  pleasures  and  possibly  his  risks.  Only 
thus  can  you  hope  to  win  his  confidence.  Only 
through  that  confidence  can  you  hope  to  under- 
stand the  inner  man,  and  this  knowledge  can  there- 
fore only  come  to  those  who  have  the  opportunity 
and  use  it. 

So  far  the  means  of  studying  Malays  in  their  own 
country  (where  alone  they  are  seen  in  their  true 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

character)  have  fallen  to  few  Europeans,  and  a  very 
small  proportion  of  them  have  shown  an  inclination 
to  get  to  the  hearts  of  the  people.  There  are  a 
hundred  thousand  Malays  in  Perak  and  some  more 
in  other  parts  of  the  Peninsula  ;  and  the  white  man, 
whose  interest  in  the  race  is  strong  enough,  may  not 
only  win  confidence  but  the  devotion  that  is  ready 
to  give  life  itself  in  the  cause  of  friendship.  The 
Scripture  says  :  "There  is  no  greater  thing  than  this," 
and  in  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century  that  is  a 
form  of  friendship  all  too  rare.  Fortunately  this  is 
a  thing  you  cannot  buy,  but  to  gain  it  is  worth  some 
effort. 

The  real  Malay  is  a  short,  thick-set,  well-built 
man,  with  straight  black  hair,  a  dark  brown  com- 
plexion, thick  nose  and  lips,  and  bright  intelligent 
eyes.  His  disposition  is  generally  kindly,  his 
manners  are  polite  and  easy.  Never  cringing,  he 
is  reserved  with  strangers  and  suspicious,  though  he 
does  not  show  it.  He  is  courageous  and  trust- 
worthy in  the  discharge  of  an  undertaking  ;  but  he 
is  extravagant,  fond  of  borrowing  money,  and  very 
slow  in  repaying  it.  He  is  a  good  talker,  speaks  in 
parables,  quotes  proverbs  and  wise  saws,  has  a  strong 
sense  of  humour,  and  is  very  fond  of  a  good  joke. 
He  takes  an  interest  in  the  affairs  of  his  neighbours 


THE   REAL    MALAY 

and  is  consequently  a  gossip.  He  is  a  Muhammadan 
and  a  fatalist,  but  he  is  also  very  superstitious.  He 
never  drinks  intoxicants,  he  is  rarely  an  opium- 
smoker.  But  he  is  fond  of  gambling,  cock-fighting, 
and  kindred  sports.  He  is  by  nature  a  sportsman, 
catches  and  tames  elephants,  is  a  skilful  fisherman, 
and  thoroughly  at  home  in  a  boat.  Above  all 
things,  he  is  conservative  to  a  degree,  is  proud  and 
fond  of  his  country  and  his  people,  venerates  his 
ancient  customs  and  traditions,  fears  his  Rajas,  and 
has  a  proper  respect  for  constituted  authority — 
while  he  looks  askance  on  all  innovations,  and  will 
resist  their  sudden  introduction.  But  if  he  has  time 
to  examine  them  carefully,  and  they  are  not  thrust 
upon  him,  he  is  willing  to  be  convinced  of  their 
advantage.  At  the  same  time  he  is  a  good  imitative 
learner,  and,  when  he  has  energy  and  ambition 
enough  for  the  task,  makes  a  good  mechanic.  He 
is,  however,  lazy  to  a  degree,  is  without  method  or 
order  of  any  kind,  knows  no  regularity  even  in  the 
hours  of  his  meals,  and  considers  time  as  of  no  im- 
portance. His  house  is  untidy,  even  dirty,  but  he 
bathes  twice  a  day,  and  is  very  fond  of  personal 
adornment  in  the  shape  of  smart  clothes. 

A  Malay  is  intolerant  of  insult  or  slight ;  it  is 
something    that    to    him   should   be  wiped   out   in 

3 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

blood.  He  will  brood  over  a  real  or  fancied  stain 
on  his  honour  until  he  is  possessed  by  the  desire 
for  revenge.  If  he  cannot  wreak  it  on  the  offender, 
he  will  strike  out  at  the  first  human  being  that 
comes  in  his  way,  male  or  female,  old  or  young. 
It  is  this  state  of  blind  fury,  this  vision  of  blood, 
that  produces  the  amok.  The  Malay  has  often  been 
called  treacherous.  I  question  whether  he  deserves 
the  reproach  more  than  other  men.  He  is  courteous 
and  expects  courtesy  in  return,  and  he  understands 
only  one  method  of  avenging  personal  insults. 

The  spirit  of  the  clan  is  also  strong  in  him.  He 
acknowledges  the  necessity  of  carrying  out,  even 
blindly,  the  orders  of  his  hereditary  chief,  while  he 
will  protect  his  own  relatives  at  all  costs  and  make 
their  quarrel  his  own. 

The  giving  of  gifts  by  Raja  to  subject,  or  subject 
to  ruler,  is  a  custom  now  falling  into  desuetude, 
but  it  still  prevails  on  the  occasion  of  the  accession 
of  a  Raja,  the  appointment  of  high  officers,  a 
marriage,  a  circumcision,  ear-piercing,  or  similar 
ceremony.  As  with  other  Eastern  people,  hospitality 
is  to  the  Malay  a  sacred  duty  fulfilled  by  high  and 
low,  rich  and  poor  alike. 

Though  the  Malay  is  an  Islam  by  profession,  and 
would  suffer  crucifixion  sooner  than  deny  his  faith, 

4 


THE   REAL   MALAY 

he  is  not  a  bigot ;  indeed,  his  tolerance  compares 
favourably  with  that  of  the  professing  Christian, 
and,  when  he  thinks  of  these  matters  at  all,  he 
believes  that  the  absence  of  hypocrisy  is  the  begin- 
ning of  religion.  He  has  a  sublime  faith  in  God, 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  a  heaven  of  ecstatic 
earthly  delights,  and  a  hell  of  punishments,  which 
every  individual  is  so  confident  will  not  be  his  own 
portion  that  the  idea  of  its  existence  presents  no 
terrors. 

Christian  missionaries  of  all  denominations  have 
apparently  abandoned  the  hope  of  his  conversion. 

In  his  youth,  the  Malay  boy  is  often  beautiful,  a 
thing  of  wonderful  eyes,  eyelashes,  and  eyebrows, 
with  a  far-away  expression  of  sadness  and  solemnity, 
as  though  he  had  left  some  better  place  for  a  com- 
pulsory exile  on  earth. 

Those  eyes,  which  are  extraordinarily  large  and 
clear,  seem  filled  with  a  pained  wonder  at  all  they 
see  here,  and  they  give  the  impression  of  a  constant 
effort  to  open  ever  wider  and  wider  in  search  of 
something  they  never  find.  Unlike  the  child  of 
Japan,  this  cherub  never  looks  as  if  his  nurse  had 
forgotten  to  wipe  his  nose.  He  is  treated  with 
elaborate  respect,  sleeps  when  he  wishes,  and  sits 
up  till  any  hour  of  the  night  if  he  so  desires,  eats 

5 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

when  he  is  hungry,  has  no  toys,  is  never  whipped, 
and  hardly  ever  cries. 

Until  he  is  fifteen  or  sixteen,  this  atmosphere  of 
a  better  world  remains  about  him.  He  is  often 
studious  even,  and  duly  learns  to  read  the  Koran 
in  a  language  he  does  not  understand. 

Then,  well  then,  from  sixteen  to  twenty-five  or 
later  he  is  to  be  avoided.  He  takes  his  pleasure, 
sows  his  wild  oats  like  youths  of  a  higher  civilisa- 
tion, is  extravagant,  open-handed,  gambles,  gets 
into  debt,  runs  away  with  his  neighbour's  wife,  and 
generally  asserts  himself.  Then  follows  a  period 
when  he  either  adopts  this  path  and  pursues  it,  or, 
more  commonly,  he  weans  himself  gradually  from 
an  indulgence  that  has  not  altogether  realized  his 
expectation,  and  if,  under  the  advice  of  older  men, 
he  seeks  and  obtains  a  position  of  credit  and  use- 
fulness in  society  from  which  he  begins  at  last  to 
earn  some  profit,  he  will,  from  the  age  of  forty, 
probably  develop  into  an  intelligent  man  of  miserly 
and  rather  grasping  habits  with  some  one  little  pet 
indulgence  of  no  very  expensive  kind. 

The  Malay  girl-child  is  not  usually  so  attractive 
in  appearance  as  the  boy,  and  less  consideration  is 
shown  to  her.  She  runs  wild  till  the  time  comes 
for  investing  her  in  a  garment,  that  is  to  say  when 


THE   REAL   MALAY 

she  is  about  five  years  old.  From  then,  she  is 
taught  to  help  in  the  house  and  kitchen,  to  sew,  to 
read  and  write,  perhaps  to  work  in  the  padi  field, 
but  she  is  kept  out  of  the  way  of  all  strange  men- 
kind.  When  fifteen  or  sixteen,  she  is  often  almost 
interesting ;  very  shy,  very  fond  of  pretty  clothes 
and  ornaments,  not  uncommonly  much  fairer  in 
complexion  than  the  Malay  man,  with  small  hands 
and  feet,  a  happy  smiling  face,  good  teeth,  and 
wonderful  eyes  and  eyebrows — the  eyes  of  the  little 
Malay  boy.  The  Malay  girl  is  proud  of  a  wealth 
of  straight,  black  hair,  of  a  spotless  olive  com- 
plexion, of  the  arch  of  her  brow — "  like  a  one-day- 
old  moon  " — of  the  curl  of  her  eyelashes,  and  of  the 
dimples  in  cheek  or  chin. 

Unmarried  girls  are  taught  to  avoid  all  men 
except  those  nearly  related  to  them.  Until  mar- 
riage, it  is  considered  unmaidenly  for  them  to  raise 
their  eyes  or  take  any  part  or  interest  in  their 
surroundings  when  men  are  present.  This  leads  to 
an  affectation  of  modesty  which,  however  over- 
strained, deceives  nobody. 

After  marriage,  a  woman  gets  a  considerable 
amount  of  freedom  which  she  naturally  values.  In 
Perak  a  man,  who  tries  to  shut  his  womenkind  up 
and  prevent  their  intercourse  with  others  and  a 

7 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

participation  in  the  fetes  and  pleasures  of  Malay 
society,  is  looked  upon  as  a  jealous,  ill-conditioned 
person. 

Malays  are  extremely  particular  about  questions 
of  rank  and  birth,  especially  when  it  comes  to 
marriage,  and  mesalliances,  as  understood  in  the 
West,  are  with  them  very  rare. 

The  general  characteristics  of  Malay  women, 
especially  those  of  gentle  birth,  are  powers  of 
intelligent  conversation,  quickness  in  repartee,  a 
strong  sense  of  humour  and  an  instant  appreciation 
of  the  real  meaning  of  those  hidden  sayings  which 
are  hardly  ever  absent  from  their  conversation. 
They  are  fond  of  reading  such  literature  as  their 
language  offers,  and  they  use  uncommon  words  and 
expressions,  the  meanings  of  which  are  hardly 
known  to  men.  For  the  telling  of  secrets,  they 
have  several  modes  of  speech  not  understanded  of 
the  people. 

They  are  generally  amiable  in  disposition,  mildly 
— sometimes  fiercely — jealous,  often  extravagant 
and,  up  to  about  the  age  of  forty,  evince  an 
increasing  fondness  for  jewellery  and  smart  clothes. 
In  these  latter  days  they  are  developing  a  pretty 
taste  for  horses,  carriages,  and  whatever  conduces 
to  luxury  and  display,  though,  in  their  houses,  there 


THE   REAL   MALAY 

are  still  a  rugged  simplicity  and  untidiness,  absolutely 
devoid  of  all  sense  of  order. 

A  Malay  is  allowed  by  law  to  have  as  many  as 
four  wives,  to  divorce  them,  and  replace  them.  If 
he  is  well  off  and  can  afford  so  much  luxury,  he 
usually  takes  advantage  of  the  power  to  marry 
more  than  one  wife,  to  divorce  and  secure  successors; 
but  he  seldom  undertakes  the  responsibility  of  four 
wives  at  one  time.  The  woman  on  her  part  can, 
and  often  does,  obtain  a  divorce  from  her  husband. 
Written  conditions  of  marriage,  "  settlements  "  of 
a  kind,  are  common  with  people  in  the  upper 
classes,  and  the  law  provides  for  the  custody  of 
children,  division  of  property,  and  so  on.  The 
ancient  maiden  lady  is  an  unknown  quantity,  so  is 
the  Malay  public  woman  ;  and,  as  there  is  no  society 
bugbear,  the  people  lead  lives  that  are  almost 
natural.  There  are  no  drunken  husbands,  no  hob- 
nail boots,  and  no  screaming  viragoes — because  a 
word  would  get  rid  of  them.  All  forms  of  mad- 
ness, mania,  and  brain-softening  are  extremely  rare. 

The  Malay  has  ideas  on  the  subject  of  marriage, 
ideas  born  of  his  infinite  experience.  He  has  even 
soared  into  regions  of  matrimonial  philosophy,  and 
returned  with  such  crumbs  of  lore  as  never  fall  to 
the  poor  monogamist. 

9 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

I  am  not  going  to  give  away  the  secrets  of  the 
life  behind  the  curtain  ;  if  I  wished  to  do  so  I 
might  trip  over  difficulties  of  expression  ;  but  in 
spite  of  the  Malay's  reputation  for  bloodthirstiness, 
in  spite  of  (or  because  of,  whichever  you  please)  the 
fact  that  he  is  impregnated  with  the  doctrines  of 
Islam,  in  spite  of  his  sensitive  honour  and  his 
proneness  to  revenge,  and  in  spite  of  his  desire  to 
keep  his  own  women  (when  young  and  attractive) 
away  from  the  prying  eyes  of  other  men,  he  yet 
holds  this  uncommon  faith,  that  if  he  has  set  his 
affections  on  a  woman,  and  for  any  reason  he  is 
unable  at  once  to  make  her  his  own,  he  cares  not 
to  how  many  others  she  allies  herself  provided  she 
becomes  his  before  time  has  robbed  her  of  her 
physical  attractions. 

His  reason  is  this.  He  says  (certainly  not  to  a 
stranger,  rarely  even  to  his  Malay  friends,  but  to 
himself)  "  if,  after  all  this  experience,  she  likes  me 
best,  I  have  no  fear  that  she  will  wish  to  go  further 
afield.  All  Malay  girls  marry  before  they  are 
twenty,  and  the  woman  who  has  only  known  one 
husband,  however  attractive  he  may  be,  will  come 
sooner  -or  later  to  the  conviction  that  life  with 
another  promises  new  and  delightful  experiences 
not  found  in  the  society  of  the  first  man  to  whom 

10 


THE  REAL   MALAY 

destiny  and  her  relatives  have  chosen  to  unite  her. 
Thus  some  fool  persuades  her  that  in  his  worship 
and  passion  she  will  find  the  World's  Desire,  and 
it  is  only  after  perhaps  a  long  and  varied  experience 
that  she  realizes  that,  having  started  for  a  voyage 
on  the  ocean,  she  finds  herself  seated  at  the  bottom 
of  a  dry  well." 

It  is  possible  that  thus  she  becomes  acquainted 
with  truth. 


ii 


II 

THE   TIGER 

Yon  golden  terror,  barred  with  ebon 

stripes 
Low-crouching  horror,  with  the  cruel 

fangs 
Waiting  in  deathly  stillness  for  thy 

spring 

ANON. 

SOME  idea  of  what  Malays  are  in  their  own 
country  may  best  be  conveyed  by  taking  the 
reader  in  imagination  through  some  scenes  of  their 
daily  life.  The  tiger,  for  instance,  is  seldom  delibe- 
rately sought ;  if  he  kills  a  buffalo  a  spring  gun  is 
set  to  shoot  him  when  he  returns  for  his  afternoon 
meal,  but  sometimes  the  tiger  comes  about  a  village, 
and  it  is  necessary  to  get  rid  of  so  dangerous  a 
visitor.  Let  me  try  and  put  the  scene  before  you. 
But  how  describe  an  Eastern  dawn  ?  Sight 
alone  will  give  a  true  impression  of  its  strange 
beauty.  Out  of  darkness  and  stillness,  the  transi- 

12 


THE   TIGER 

tion  to  light — intense  brilliant  light — and  the  sounds 
of  awakened  life,  is  rapid  and  complete,  a  short  half 
hour  or  less  turning  night  into  tropical  day.  The 
first  indication  of  dawn  is  a  grey  haze,  then  the 
clouds  clothing  the  Western  hills  are  shot  with  pale 
yellow  and  in  a  few  minutes  turn  to  gold,  while 
Eastern  ranges  are  still  in  darkness.  The  light 
spreads  to  the  Western  slopes,  moves  rapidly  across 
the  valleys,  and  suddenly  the  sun,  a  great  ball  of 
fire,  appears  above  the  Eastern  hills.  The  fogs, 
which  have  risen  from  the  rivers  and  marshes  and 
covered  the  land,  as  with  a  pall,  rise  like  smoke  and 
disappear,  and  the  whole  face  of  nature  is  flooded 
with  light,  the  valleys  and  slopes  of  the  Eastern 
ranges  being  the  last  to  feel  the  influence  of  the 
risen  sun. 

That  grey  half-light  which  precedes  dawn  is  the 
signal  for  Malays  to  be  stirring.  The  doors  are 
opened,  and,  only  half  awake  and  shivering  in  the 
slight  breeze  made  by  the  rising  fog,  they  leave 
their  houses  and  make  for  the  nearest  stream,  there 
to  bathe  and  fetch  fresh  water  for  the  day's  use. 

A  woman  dressed  in  the  sdrong,  a  plaid  skirt 
of  silk  or  cotton,  and  a  jacket,  walks  rapidly  to  the 
river,  carrying  a  long  bamboo  and  some  gourds, 
which,  after  her  bath,  she  fills,  and  begins  to  walk 

13 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

home  through  the  wealth  of  vegetation  that  clothes 
the  whole  face  of  the  country.  She  follows  a  narrow 
path  up  from  the  bed  of  the  clear  stream,  the  jungle 
trees  and  orchards,  the  long  rank  grasses  and  tangled 
creepers  almost  hiding  the  path.  Suddenly  she 
stops  spellbound,  her  knees  give  way  under  her,  the 
vessels  drop  from  her  nerveless  hands,  and  a  speech- 
less fear  turns  her  blood  to  water  ;  for  there,  in  front 
of  her,  is  a  great  black  and  yellow  head  with  cruel 
yellow  eyes,  and  a  half-open  mouth  showing  a  red 
tongue  and  long  white  teeth.  The  shoulders  and 
fore  feet  of  the  tiger  stand  clear  of  the  thick  foliage, 
and  a  hoarse  low  roar  of  surprise  and  anger  comes 
from  the  open  mouth.  An  exceeding  great  fear 
chains  the  terrified  woman  to  the  spot,  and  the 
tiger,  thus  faced,  sulkily  and  with  more  hoarse 
grumbling,  slowly  draws  back  into  the  jungle  and 
disappears.  Then  the  instinct  of  self-preservation 
returns  to  the  woman,  and,  with  knees  still  weak 
and  a  cold  hand  on  her  heart,  she  stumbles,  with 
what  speed  she  may,  back  to  the  river,  down  the 
bank,  and  to  the  friendly  shelter  of  the  nearest 
dwelling. 

It  takes  little  time  to  tell  the  story,  and  the  men 
of  the  house,  armed  with  spears  and  krises  and  an 
old  rusty  gun,  quickly  spread  the  news  throughout 


THE   TIGER 

the  kampong,  as  each  cluster  of  huts  and  orchards 
is  called.  Every  one  arms  himself  with  such 
weapons  as  he  possesses,  the  boys  of  sixteen  or 
seventeen  climb  into  trees,  from  which  they  hope 
to  see  and  be  able  to  report  the  movements  of 
the  beast.  The  men,  marshalled  by  the  ka-tua 
kampong,  the  village  chief,  make  their  plans  for 
surrounding  the  spot  where  the  tiger  was  seen,  and 
word  is  sent  by  messenger  to  the  nearest  police- 
station  and  European  officer. 

Whilst  all  this  is  taking  place,  the  tiger,  probably 
conscious  that  too  many  people  are  about,  leaves 
his  lair  and  stealthily  creeps  along  a  path  which  will 
lead  him  far  from  habitations.  But,  as  he  does  so, 
he  passes  under  a  tree  where  sits  one  of  the  young 
watchmen,  and  the  boy,  seizing  his  opportunity, 
drops  a  heavy  spear  on  the  tiger  as  he  passes,  and 
gives  him  a  serious  wound.  The  beast,  with  a  roar 
of  pain,  leaps  into  the  jungle,  carrying  the  spear 
with  him ;  and,  after  what  he  considers  a  safe 
interval,  the  boy  climbs  down,  gets  back  to  the 
circle  of  watchers,  and  reports  what  has  occurred. 

For  a  long  time,  there  is  silence,  no  one  caring  to 
go  in  and  seek  a  wounded  tiger — but  this  monotony 
is  broken  rudely  and  suddenly  by  a  shot  on  the  out- 
skirts of  the  wide  surrounding  ring  of  beaters  where 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

a  young  Malay  has  been  keeping  guard  over  a 
jungle  track.  Instantly  the  nearest  rush  to  the 
spot  only  to  find  the  boy  badly  wounded,  after 
firing  a  shot  that  struck  the  tiger  but  did  not  pre- 
vent him  reaching  and  pulling  down  the  youth  who 
fired  it. 

Hardly  has  a  party  carried  the  wounded  man  to 
shelter,  than  news  arrives  that,  in  trying  to  break 
the  ring  at  another  point,  the  tiger  has  sprung  upon 
the  point  of  a  spear  held  in  rest  by  a  kneeling  Malay, 
and,  the  spear,  passing  completely  through  the  beast's 
body,  the  tiger  has  come  down  on  the  man's  back 
and  killed  him.  The  old  men  say  it  is  because, 
regardless  of  the  wisdom  of  their  ancestors,  fools 
now  face  a  tiger  with  spears  unguarded,  whereas  in 
the  olden  time  it  was  always  the  custom  to  tie  a 
crosspiece  of  wood  where  blade  joins  shaft  to  pre- 
vent the  tiger  "  running  up  the  spear"  and  killing 
his  opponent. 

The  game  is  getting  serious  now  and  the  tiger 
has  retired  to  growl  and  roar  in  a  thick  isolated 
copse  of  bushes  and  tangled  undergrowth  from 
which  it  seems  impossible  to  draw  him,  and  where 
it  would  be  madness  to  seek  him. 

By  this  time,  all  the  principal  people  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood have  been  collected.  The  copse  is  sur- 

16 


THE   TIGER 

rounded  and  two  elephants  are  ridden  at  the  cover, 
in  the  hope  of  driving  the  wounded  tiger  from  his 
shelter.  A  vain  hope,  for,  when  the  huge  beasts 
get  inconveniently  near  to  him,  the  tiger,  with  a 
great  roar,  springs  on  to  the  shoulder  of  the  nearest 
elephant  and  brings  him  to  his  knees.  The  terrified 
occupants  of  the  howdah  are  thus  deposited  on  the 
ground,  but  lose  no  time  in  picking  themselves  up 
and  getting  away.  The  elephant  with  a  scream  of 
terror  whirls  round,  throwing  off  the  tiger  with  a 
broken  tooth,  and,  accompanied  by  his  fellow, 
rushes  from  the  place  and  will  not  be  stopped  till 
several  miles  have  been  covered  and  the  river  is 
between  them  and  their  enemy. 

Severe  maladies  want  desperate  and  heroic 
remedies.  After  a  short  consultation,  a  young 
Malay  chief  and  several  of  his  friends,  armed  only 
with  spears,  express  their  determination  to  seek  the 
tiger  where  he  lies.  They  immediately  put  the  plan 
into  execution.  Shoulder  to  shoulder  and  with 
spears  in  rest,  they  advance  to  the  copse.  They 
have  not  long  to  wait  in  doubt  for  the  wounded  and 
enraged  beast,  with  open  mouth  and  eyes  blazing 
fell  purpose,  charges  straight  at  them.  There  is  the 
shock  of  flesh  against  steel,  an  awful  snarling  and 
straining  of  muscles  and  the  already  badly  wounded 

17  B 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

tiger  is  pinned  to  the  ground  and  dies  under  the 
thrusts  of  many  spears. 

The  general  result  of  a  tiger  hunt,  under  such 
circumstances,  is  the  death  or  serious  injury  of  one 
or  two  of  the  pursuers. 


18 


Ill 

A   FISHING  PICNIC 

I  have  given  you  lands  to  hunt  in, 
I  have  given  you  streams  to  fish  in, 
Filled  the  river  full  of  fishes 

LONGFELLOW 

NOW  come  to  a  Malay  picnic. 
Again,  it  is  early  morning,  the  guests  have 
been  invited  overnight  and  warned  to  come  on  their 
elephants  and  bring  "  rice  and  salt."  By  the  time 
the  sun  is  well  up  there  are  fifty  or  sixty  people  (of 
whom  about  half  are  women),  mounted  on  twelve  or 
fifteen  elephants,  and  some  boys  and  followers  are 
prepared  to  walk. 

The  word  is  given  to  make  for  a  great  limestone 
hill  rising  abruptly  out  of  the  plain,  for,  close 
round  the  foot  of  this  rock,  eating  its  way  into  the 
unexplored  depths  of  subaqueous  caves,  flows  a 
clear  mountain-bred  stream,  and,  in  the  silent  pools 
which  lie  under  the  shadow  of  the  cliff,  are  the  fish 

19 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

which  with  the  rice  and  salt,  will  make  the  coming 
feast. 

The  road  lies  through  six  or  seven  miles  of 
open  country  and  virgin  forest,  and  it  is  9  or 
IO  A.M.  before  the  river  is  reached,  the  elephants 
hobbled,  and  the  men  of  the  party  ready  for 
business. 

In  days  gone  by,  the  method  would  have  been  to 
tuba  the  stream  above  a  pool,  but  this  poisoning  of 
the  water  affects  the  river  for  miles,  and  dynamite 
which  is  not  nearly  so  destructive  is  preferred.  The 
plan  is  to  select  a  large  and  deep  pool  round  which 
the  men  stand  ready  to  spring  in,  while  the  women 
make  a  cordon  across  the  shallow  at  its  lower  end, 
ready  to  catch  the  fish  that  escape  the  hands  of  the 
swimmers.  Two  cartridges  of  dynamite  with  a  de- 
tonator and  a  piece  of  slow  match  are  tied  to  a  stone 
and  thrown  into  the  deepest  part  of  the  pool,  there  is 
an  explosion  sending  up  a  great  column  of  water, 
and  immediately  the  dead  fish  come  to  the  surface 
and  begin  to  float  down  stream.  Twenty  men 
spring  into  the  pool,  and  with  shouts  and  laughter 
struggle  for  the  slippery  fish ;  those  which  elude  the 
grasp  of  the  swimmers  are  caught  by  the  women. 
It  will  then  be  probably  discovered  that  no  very  big 
fish  have  been  taken  ;  and,  as  it  is  certain  that  some 

20 


A   FISHING   PICNIC 

at  least  should  be  there,  the  boldest  and  best  divers 
will  search  the  bottom  of  the  pool  and  even  look  into 
the  water-filled  caves  of  the  rock  that  there  rises 
sheer  out  of  the  stream.  Success  rewards  this 
effort,  and,  from  the  bed  of  the  pool,  some  sixteen 
or  eighteen  feet  deep,  the  divers  bring  up  two  at  a 
time,  great  silvery  fish  weighing  ten  to  fifteen  pounds 
each.  There  is  much  joy  over  the  capture  of  these 
klah  and  tengas,  the  best  kinds  of  fresh  water  fish 
known  here,  and,  if  the  total  take  is  not  a  large 
one,  the  operation  will  be  repeated  in  another  and 
yet  another  pool,  until  a  sufficient  quantity  of  fish 
has  been  secured  and  every  one  is  tired  of  the 
water. 

There  is  a  general  change  of  wet  garments  for 
dry  ones,  no  difficult  matter,  while  long  before  this 
fires  have  been  made  on  the  bank,  rice  is  boiling, 
fish  are  roasting  in  split  sticks,  grilling,  frying,  and 
the  hungry  company  is  settling  itself  in  groups 
ready  for  the  meal.  It  is  a  matter  of  honour  that 
no  plates  should  be  used,  so  every  one  has  a  piece  of 
fresh  green  plantain  leaf  to  hold  his  rice  and  salt  and 
fish,  while  nature  supplies  the  forks  and  spoons. 
Whether  it  is  the  exercise,  the  excitement,  or  the 
coldness  of  the  two  hours'  bath,  that  is  most  re- 
sponsible for  the  keen  appetites  is  not  worth 

21 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

inquiring,  but  thorough  justice  is  done  to  the  food ; 
and  if  you,  reader,  should  ever  be  fortunate  enough 
to  take  part  in  one  of  these  picnics,  you  will  declare 
that  you  never  before  realised  how  delicious  a  meal 
can  be  made  of  such  simple  ingredients.  Some  one 
has  smuggled  in  a  few  condiments  and  they  add 
largely  to  the  success  of  the  Malay  bouille-abaisse, 
but  people  affect  not  to  know  they  are  there,  and 
you  go  away  assured  that  rice  and  salt  did  it  all. 
That  is  part  of  the  game. 

And  now  it  is  time  to  return,  the  sun  has  long 
passed  the  meridian,  and  there  is  a  mile  or  two  of 
forest  before  getting  into  the  open  country.  The 
timid  amongst  the  ladies  feign  alarm  (Malays  are 
sensible  people  who  take  only  the  young  to  picnics, 
and  leave  the  old  to  mind  the  houses),  and  a  desire 
to  get  away  at  once,  but  there  are  others  who  know 
what  is  in  store  for  them. 

The  elephants  are  brought  up  and  each  pannier 
is  found  to  be  loaded  with  jungle  fruit,  large  and 
small,  ripe  and  unripe,  hard  and  soft,  but  generally 
hard  as  stones.  Every  one  knows  the  meaning  of 
this  and,  as  the  elephants  kneel  down  to  take  their 
riders,  you  may  observe  that  usually  two  men  sit  in 
front,  two  women  behind,  and  the  latter  are  anxious 
about  their  umbrellas  and  show  a  tendency  to  open 

22 


A   FISHING   PICNIC 

them  here  where,  in  the  gloom  of  the  forest,  they 
are  not  needed.  The  first  two  or  three  elephants 
move  off  quickly,  and,  having  turned  a  corner  in  the 
path,  disappear.  It  is  necessary  to  proceed  in  Indian 
file,  and  as  the  next  elephant  comes  to  this  corner 
he  and  his  company  are  assailed  by  a  perfect  shower 
of  missiles  (the  jungle  fruit)  from  the  riders  of  the 
first  section  of  elephants  who  are  slily  waiting  here 
to  surprise  those  behind.  The  attack  is  returned 
with  interest  and  the  battle  wages  hot  and  furious. 
The  leaders  of  the  rear  column  try  to  force  their 
way  past  those  who  dispute  the  path  with  them,  and 
either  succeed  or  put  the  enemy  to  flight  only  to  find 
a  succession  of  ambuscades  laid  for  them,  each 
resulting  in  a  deadly  struggle,  and  so,  throughout 
the  length  of  the  forest,  the  more  venturesome 
pushing  their  way  to  the  front  or  taking  up  an 
independent  line  and  making  enemies  of  all  comers, 
until,  at  last,  the  whole  party  clears  the  jungle  and, 
taking  open  order,  a  succession  of  wild  charges  soon 
gets  every  one  into  the  fray  and,  the  supply  of  am- 
munition having  run  out,  there  is  nothing  left  but  to 
count  the  damage  done. 

It  is  principally  in  broken  umbrellas  which  have 
been  used  as  shields,  but  some  garments  are  stained, 
and  there  may  be  a  few  bruises  treated  with  much 

23 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

good  humour,  and,  by  the  time  the  party  has 
straightened  its  dishevelledness,  it  is  found  that 
miles  of  otherwise  tedious  journey  have  been 
passed  and  every  one  is  home  ere  the  lengthening 
shadows  suddenly  contract  and  tell  the  sun  has 
set. 


24 


IV 
THE   MURDER   OF   THE    HAWKER 

It  is  a  damned  and  bloody  work, 
The  graceless  action  of  a  heavy  hand 
King  John 

ONE  afternoon,  in  1892,  a  foreign  Malay  named 
Lenggang,  who  made  a  living  by  hawking 
in  a  boat  on  the  Perak  River,  left  Bota  with  his 
usual  cargo  and  a  hundred  dollars  which  his  cousin, 
the  son  of  the  Penghulu,  had  been  keeping  for  him. 
He  was  alone  in  the  boat  and  dropped  down  stream, 
saying  he  would  call  at  some  of  the  villages  that 
line  at  intervals  the  banks  of  the  river. 

The  next  day  this  man's  dead  body,  lying  partly 
under  a  mosquito  curtain,  was  discovered  in  the 
boat  as  it  drifted  past  the  village  of  Pulau  Tiga. 
The  local  headman  viewed  it,  but  saw  nothing  to 
arouse  his  suspicions,  for  the  boat  was  full  of 
valuables  and  a  certain  amount  of  money,  while 
nothing  in  it  seemed  to  have  been  disturbed,  and 

25 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

there  were  no  marks  of  violence  on  the  corpse,  which 
was  duly  buried. 

When  the  matter  was  reported,  inquiries  were 
made  but  they  elicited  nothing.  Some  months  after 
the  relatives  of  the  dead  man  appeared  at  Teluk 
Anson,  and  said  they  had  good  reason  to  believe  that 
he  had  met  with  foul  play,  indeed  that  he  had  been 
murdered  at  a  place  called  Lambor — a  few  miles 
below  Bota  and  above  Pulau  Tiga.  An  intelligent 
Malay  sergeant  of  police  proceeded  to  the  spot, 
arrested  a  number  of  people,  who  denied  all  'know- 
ledge of  the  affair,  and  took  them  to  Teluk  Anson. 
Arrived  there,  these  people  said  they  were  able  to 
give  all  the  necessary  information  if  that  would 
procure  their  release,  as  they  had  only  promised  to 
keep  their  mouths  shut  so  long  as  they  themselves 
did  not  suffer  for  it. 

The  details  of  the  story  as  told  in  evidence  are  as 
follows,  and  they  are  very  characteristic  of  the 
Malay : 

It  appears  that  the  hawker  duly  arrived  in  his 
boat  at  Lambor,  and  there  tied  up  for  the  night  to 
a  stake,  about  twenty  feet  from  the  bank  of  the 
river.  Shortly  afterwards  a  Malay  named  Ngah 
Prang,  stopped  three  of  his  acquaintances  walking 
on  the  bank,  asked  them  if  they  had  seen  the 

26 


THE   MURDER   OF   THE   HAWKER 

hawker's  boat,  and  suggested  that  it  would  be  a  good 
thing  to  rob  him.  They  said  they  were  afraid,  and 
some  other  men  coming  up  asked  one  of  those  to 
whom  the  proposal  had  been  madve  what  they  were 
talking  about,  and,  being  told,  advised  him  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  business  and  the  party 
dispersed. 

That  evening,  at  8  P.M.,  several  people  heard 
cries  of  "  help,  help,  I  am  being  killed,"  from  the 
river,  and  five  or  six  men  ran  out  of  their  houses 
down* to  the  bank,  a  distance  of  only  fifty  yards, 
whence  they  saw,  in  the  brilliant  moonlight,  Ngah 
Prang  and  two  other  men  in  the  hawker's  boat,  the 
hawker  lying  flat  on  his  back  while  one  man  had 
both  hands  at  his  throat,  another  held  his  wrists, 
and  the  third  his  feet ;  but  it  is  said  that  those  on 
the  bank  heard  a  noise  of  rapping  as  though  feet 
were  kicking  or  hands  beating  quickly  the  deck  of 
the  boat.  It  only  lasted  for  a  moment  and  then 
there  was  silence. 

As  those  who  had  been  roused  by  the  cries  came 
down  the  bank  they  called  to  the  men  in  the  boat, 
barely  twenty  feet  away,  and  lighted  at  their  work 
by  the  brilliancy  of  an  Eastern  moon,  to  know  what 
they  were  doing ;  they  even  addressed  them  by 
their  names,  but  these  gave  no  answer,  and,  getting 

27 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

up  from  off  the  hawker,  untied  the  boat,  one  taking 
a  pole  and  another  the  rudder  and  disappeared  down 
the  river.  The  hawker  did  not  move.  He  was 
dead. 

The  witnesses  of  this  tragedy  appear  then  to  have 
returned  to  their  homes  and  slept  peacefully. 
Several  of  them  naively  remarked  that  they  heard 
the  next  day  that  the  hawker  had  been  found  dead 
in  his  boat,  and  it  appears  that  when  one  of  these 
witnesses,  on  the  following  day,  met  one  of  the 
murderers,  he  asked  him  what  he  was  doing  in 
Lenggang's  boat,  and  the  man  replied  that  they 
were  robbing  him,  that  he  held  the  hawker  by  the 
throat,  the  others  by  the  hands  and  feet,  but  that 
really  they  had  got  very  little  for  their  trouble. 

Meanwhile  the  three  murderers  told  several  of 
the  eye-witnesses  of  the  affair  that,  if  they  said 
anything,  it  would  be  the  worse  for  them,  and 
nothing  particular  occurred  till  a  notice  was  posted 
in  the  Mosque  calling  upon  any  one  who  knew 
anything  about  Lenggang's  death  to  report  it  to  the 
village  Headman.  Then  Ngah  Prang,  who  appa- 
rently was  the  original  instigator  of  the  job,  as  so 
often  happens,  thought  he  would  save  himself  at  the 
expense  of  his  friends,  and  actually  went  himself  to 
make  a  report,  and,  meeting  on  the  way  one  of  the 

28 


THE   MURDER   OF   THE   HAWKER 

eye-witnesses  going  on  a  similar  errand,  he  per- 
suaded him  to  give  a  qualified  promise  to  help  in 
denying  Ngah  Prang's  complicity  while  convicting 
the  others. 

Needless  to  say  that,  from  the  moment  the  first 
disclosure  was  made  and  communicated  to  the 
police,  resulting  in  the  arrest  of  a  number  of  those 
who  had  actually  witnessed  the  crime,  every  smallest 
detail  was  gradually  brought  to  light,  the  hawker's 
property,  even  his  own  clothes,  gradually  recovered, 
the  money  stolen  from  him  traced,  and  no  single 
link  left  wanting  in  the  chain  of  evidence  strong 
enough  to  convict  and  hang  the  guilty  men.  That 
indeed  was  the  result. 

I  have  told  the  story  of  this  crime,  which  is 
devoid  of  sensational  incident,  because  it  will  give 
some  idea  of  the  state  of  feeling  in  a  real  Malay 
kampong  of  poor  labouring  people  far  from  any 
outside  influence.  The  man  murdered  was  a  Malay  ; 
the  idea  that  he  was  worth  something  which  could 
be  obtained  by  the  insignificant  sacrifice  of  his  life 
seems  to  have  at  once  suggested  that  Providence 
was  putting  a  good  thing  in  the  way  of  poor  people, 
and  those  who  were  not  afraid  determined  that  the 
opportunity  was  not  to  be  lost.  The  murder  is 
discussed  practically  in  public ;  it  is  executed  also 

29 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

in  public,  in  the  presence  of  a  feebly  expostulating 
opposition,  and  then  every  one  goes  to  bed.  The 
only  further  concern  of  the  community  in  the  matter 
is  as  to  how  much  the  murderers  got.  For  them 
the  incident  encls  there,  and,  if  any  one  has  any 
qualms  of  conscience,  they  are  silenced  by  the 
threats  of  the  men  who  so  easily  throttled  the 
hawker. 

It  is  only  when  inquiries  are  pushed,  and  things 
are  made  generally  unpleasant  for  every  one,  that 
the  truth  is  unwillingly  disclosed,  and  the  penalty 
paid. 


V 
MENG-GELUNCHOR 

And  falling  and  crawling  and  sprawl- 
ing, 

And  driving  and  riving  and  striving, 

And   sprinkling   and   twinkling  and 
winkling, 

And     sounding    and    bounding    and 

rounding, 
Dividing  and  gliding  and  sliding, 

And    trumping    and    plumping    and 
bumping  and  jumping, 

And  dashing  and  flashing  and  splash- 
ing and  clashing 

SOUTHEY 

THE  Malays  of  Perak  occasionally  indulge  them- 
selves in  a  form  of  amusement  which,  I  believe, 
is  peculiar  to  them.  Though  of  ancient  origin,  it  is 
not  well  known  even  here,  and,  as  new  sensations 
are  the  desire  of  our  time,  I  offer  it  to  the  jaded 
pleasure-seekers  of  the  West. 

Given  a  fine  sunny  morning  (and  that  is  what 
most  mornings  are  in  Perak)  you  will  drive  four  or 

31 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

five  miles  to  the  appointed  place  of  meeting,  and 
there  find  a  crowd  of  one  or  two  hundred  Malay 
men,  women,  and  children,  who  have  been  duly 
bidden  to  meng-gelunchor  and  to  take  part  in  the 
picnic  which  forms  a  recognised  accompaniment  to 
the  proceedings. 

A  walk  of  a  couple  of  miles  along  a  shady  jungle 
path  brings  the  party  to  the  foot  of  a  spur  of  hills, 
whence  a  clear  mountain  stream  leaps  down  a  suc- 
cession of  cascades  to  fertilise  the  plain.  There  is 
a  stiff  climb  for  several  hundred  feet  until  the  party 
gains  a  great  granite  rock  in  the  bed  of  the  stream, 
large  enough  to  accommodate  a  much  more  numerous 
gathering.  In  a  "  spate "  this  rock  might  be 
covered,  but  now  the  water  flows  round  it  and 
dashes  itself  wildly  over  the  falls  below.  Up- 
stream, however,  there  is  a  sheer  smooth  face  of 
granite,  about  sixty  feet  long,  inclined  at  an  angle 
of  say  45°,  and,  while  the  main  body  of  water  finds 
its  way  down  one  side  of  this  rock  and  then  across 
its  foot,  a  certain  quantity,  only  an  inch  or  two  deep, 
flows  steadily  down  the  face.  The  depth  of  water 
here  can  be  increased  at  will  by  bamboo  troughs, 
leading  out  of  the  great  pool  which  lies  at  the  head 
of  the  waterfall.  At  the  base  of  the  rock  is  an  in- 
viting lynn  not  more  than  four  feet  deep.  On  either 

32 


MENG-GELUNCHOR 

side,  the  river  is  shut  in  by  a  wealth  of  jungle- 
foliage  through  which  the  sun  strikes  at  rare 
intervals,  just  sufficiently  to  give  the  sense  of 
warmth  and  colour. 

It  is  delightfully  picturesque  with  all  these  people 
in  their  many-coloured  garments,  grouped  in  artistic 
confusion,  on  bank  and  rock.  They  only  sit  for  a 
brief  rest  after  the  climb,  to  collect  wood,  make  fires 
and  get  the  work  of  cooking  started,  and  you  will 
not  be  left  long  in  doubt  as  to  the  meaning  of 
meng-gelunchor.  It  is  to  slide,  and  the  game  is  to* 
" toboggan"  down  this  waterfall  into  the  lynn  at  its* 
base. 

A  crowd  of  little  boys  is  already  walking  up  the 
steep,  slippery  rock.  They  go  to  the  very  top,  sit 
down  in  the  shallow  water  with  feet  straight  out  in 
front  of  them  and  a  hand  on  either  side  for  guidance, 
and  immediately  begin  to  slide  down  the  sixty  feet 
of  height,  gaining,  before  they  have  gone  half  way, 
so  great  a  speed  that  the  final  descent  into  the  pool 
is  like  the  fall  of  a  stone.  They  succeed  each  other 
in  a  constant  stream,  those  behind  coming  on  the 
top  of  those  who  have  already  reached  the  lynn. 

But  now  the  men,  and  lastly  the  women,  are  drawn 
to  join  the  sliders  and  the  fun  becomes  indeed  both 
fast  and  furious.  The  women  begin  timidly,  only 

33  c 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

half  way  up  the  slide,  but  soon  grow  bolder,  and 
mixed  parties  of  four,  six,  and  eight  in  rows  of  two, 
three,  or  four  each,  start  together  and,  with  a  good 
deal  of  laughter  and  ill-directed  attempts  at  mutual 
assistance,  dash  wildly  into  the  pool  which  is  almost 
constantly  full  of  a  struggling,  screaming  crowd  of 
young  people  of  both  sexes. 

If  you  understand  the  game,  the  slide  is  a  graceful 
progress,  but,  if  you  don't,  if  you  fail  to  sit  erect,  if 
you  do  not  keep  your  feet  together,  above  all,  if  you 
lose  your  balance  and  do  not  remain  absolutely 
straight  on  the  slide,  then  your  descent  will  be  far 
from  graceful,  it  may  even  be  slightly  painful,  and 
the  final  plunge  into  the  lynn  will  be  distinctly 
undignified.  It  is  well  to  leave  your  dignity  at 
home,  if  you  go  to  meng-gtlunchor  with  a  Malay 
party,  for  those  who  do  not  weary  themselves  with 
tobogganing  become  absolutely  exhausted  with 
laughing  at  the  sliders.  The  fascination  of  the 
thing  is  extraordinary,  and,  to  read  this  poor  de- 
scription, you  would  think  it  impossible  that  any 
sane  person  would  spend  hours  in  struggling  up  a 
steep  and  slippery  rock  to  slide  down  it  on  two 
inches  of  water,  and,  having  gained  a  startling 
velocity,  leap  into  a  shallow  pool  where  half  a  dozen 
people  will  be  on  you  before  you  can  get  out  of  the 

34 


MENG-GELUNCHOR 

way.  And  yet  I  am  persuaded  that,  if  your  joints 
are  not  stiff  with  age  and  you  are  not  afraid  of 
cold  water,  or  ridicule,  or  personal  damage  (and  you 
will  admit  none  of  those  things)  you  would  m£ng- 
gelunchor  with  the  best  of  them,  nor  be  the  first  to 
cry  "  hold,  enough." 

It  is  usual  for  the  men,  when  sliding  down  the 
rock,  to  sit  upon  a  piece  of  the  thick  fibre  of  the 
plantain  called  upih.  It  is  perhaps  advisable,  but 
the  women  do  not  seem  to  want  it.  It  is  surprising 
that  there  are  so  few  casualties  and  of  such  small 
importance — some  slight  abrasions,  a  little  bumping 
of  heads,  at  most  the  loss  of  a  tooth,  will  be  the 
extent  of  the  total  damage,  and  with  a  little  care 
there  need  be  none  at  all. 

By  I  P.M.  every  one  will  probably  be  tired,  dry 
garments  are  donned,  and  a  very  hungry  company 
does  ample  justice  to  the  meal.  An  hour  will  be 
spent  in  smoking  and  gossip,  and,  as  the  shadows 
begin  to  lengthen,  a  long  procession  slowly  wends 
its  way  back,  down  the  slippery  descent,  across  the 
sunny  fields,  and  through  the  forest,  to  the  trysting- 
place  where  all  met  in  the  morning  and  whence  they 
now  return  to  their  own  homes. 

The  intelligent  reader  will  realise  that  this  is  a 
game  abounding  in  possibilities,  but  the  players 

35 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

should  be  chosen  with  discrimination  and  with  due 
regard  to  individual  affinities. 

A  sunny  climate  and  surroundings  of  natural 
beauty  are  necessary ;  but  a  wooded  ravine  on  the 
Riviera  or  by  the  shore  of  an  Italian  lake,  a  clear 
stream  leaping  down  a  steep  rocky  bed,  and  the 
rest  can  be  easily  arranged  by  a  little  cutting  and 
polishing  of  stone. 

Besides  the  novelty  and  charm  of  the  exercise, 
the  exhilarating  motion,  the  semblance  of  danger, 
the  clutchings  at  the  nearest  straws  for  help — there 
are  infinite  opportunities  for  designing  and  donning 
attractive  garments  wherein  the  graceful  lines  of 
the  human  form  would  be  less  jealously  hidden  than 
in  the  trappings  of  stern  convention. 

Puffed  sleeves  and  a  bell  skirt,  Louis  XIV. 
heels  and  an  eighteen  inch  waist,  would  be  incon- 
venient and  out  of  place  when  sliding  down  a 
waterfall  in  the  hope  of  a  safe  and  graceful  plunge 
into  a  shallow  lynn. 

But  if  the  company  be  well  chosen,  the  venue 
and  the  climate  such  as  can  be  found  at  a  hundred 
places  between  St.  Tropez  and  Salerno,  if  there  is 
in  the  costumes  and  the  luncheon  only  a  fair  appli- 
cation of  Art  to  Nature,  the  Eastern  pastime  is 
capable  of  easy  and  successful  acclimatisation  in 

3* 


MENG-GELUNCHOR 

the  West.  And  as  the  knights  and  dames  stroll 
slowly  down  the  wooded  glen,  and  the  sinking  sun 
strikes  long  shafts  of  light  across  their  path, 
glorifying  all  colours,  not  least  the  tint  of  hair  and 
eyes,  the  pleasure-seekers,  if  they  have  not  by  then 
found  some  more  mutually  interesting  topic,  will  be 
very  unanimous  in  their  praise  of  Mtng-gtlunchor. 


37 


VI 
AMOK 

There  comes  a  time 
When  the  insatiate  brute  within  the 

man, 
Weary  with  wallowing  in  the  mire, 

leaps  forth 

Devouring  ....  and  the  soul  sinks 
And  leaves  the  man  a  devil 

LEWIS  MORRIS 

MENTION  has  been  made  of  the  Malay  amok, 
and,  as  what,  with  our  happy  faculty  for 
mispronunciation  and  misspelling  of  the  words  of 
other  languages,  is  called  "running  amuck,"  is  with 
many  English  people  their  only  idea  of  the  Malay, 
and  that  a  very  vague  one,  it  may  be  of  interest  to 
briefly  describe  this  form  of  homicidal  mania. 

Mtng-dmok  is  to  make  a  sudden,  murderous 
attack,  and  though  it  is  applied  to  the  onslaught  of 
a  body  of  men  in  war  time,  or  where  plunder  is  the 
object  and  murder  the  means  to  arrive  at  it,  the 
term  is  more  commonly  used  to  describe  the  action 
of  an  individual  who,  suddenly  and  without  apparent 
cause,  seizes  a  weapon  and  strikes  out  blindly,  kill- 

38 


AMOK 

ing  and  wounding  all  who  come  in  his  way,  regard- 
less of  age  or  sex,  whether  they  be  friends,  strangers, 
or  his  own  nearest  relatives. 

Just  before  sunset  on  the  evening  of  the  1 1  th 
February,  1891,  a  Malay  named  Imam  Mamat  (that 
is  Mamat  the  priest)  came  quietly  into  the  house 
of  his  brother-in-law  at  Pasir  Garam  on  the  Perak 
River,  carrying  a  spear  and  a  golok,  i.e.  a  sharp, 
pointed  cutting  knife. 

The  Imam  went  up  to  his  brother-in-law,  took 
his  hand  and  asked  his  pardon.  He  then  approached 
his  own  wife  and  similarly  asked  her  pardon,  imme- 
diately stabbing  her  fatally  in  the  abdomen  with  the 
golok.  She  fell,  and  her  brother,  rushing  to  assist 
her,  received  a  mortal  wound  in  the  heart.  The 
brother-in-law's  wife  was  in  the  house  with  four 
children,  and  they  managed  to  get  out  before  the 
Imam  had  time  to  do  more  than  stab  the  last  of 
them,  a  boy,  in  the  back  as  he  left  the  door.  At 
this  moment,  a  man,  who  had  heard  the  screams  of 
the  women,  attempted  to  enter  the  house,  when  the 
Imam  rushed  at  him  and  inflicted  a  slight  wound, 
the  man  falling  to  the  ground  and  getting  away. 

Having  secured  two  more  spears  which  he  found 
in  the  house,  the  murderer  now  gave  chase  to,  the 
woman  and  her  three  little  children  and  made  short 

39 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

work  of  them.  A  tiny  girl  of  four  years  old  and 
a  boy  of  seven  were  killed,  while  the  third  child 
received  two  wounds  in  the  back  ;  a  spear  thrust 
•disposed  of  the  mother — all  this  within  one  hundred 
yards  of  the  house. 

The  Imam  now  walked  down  the  river  bank, 
where  he  was  met  by  a  friend  named  Uda  Majid, 
»rash  enough  to  think  his  unarmed  influence  would 
prevail  over  the  other's  madness. 

He  greeted  the  Imam  respectfully,  and  said,  "You 
recognise  me,  don't  let  there  be  any  trouble." 

The  Imam  replied,  "  Yes,  I  know  you,  but  my 
-spear  does  not,"  and  immediately  stabbed  him  twice. 

Though  terribly  injured,  Uda  Majid  wrested  the 
spear  from  the  Imam,  who  again  stabbed  him  twice, 
this  time  in  lung  and  windpipe,  and  he  fell.  Another 
man  coming  up  ran  unarmed  to  the  assistance  of 
Uda  Majid,  when  the  murderer  turned  on  the  new- 
comer and  pursued  him  ;  but,  seeing  Uda  Majid  get 
up  and  attempt  to  stagger  away,  the  Imam  went 
back  to  him  and,  with  two  more  stabs  in  the  back, 
killed  him.  Out  of  the  six  wounds  inflicted  on  this 
man  three  would  have  proved  fatal. 

The  murderer  now  rushed  along  the  river  bank, 
and  was  twice  seen  to  wade  far  out  into  the  water 

and  return.     Then  he  was  lost  sight  of. 

40 


AMOK 

By  this  time  the  news  had  spread  up  stream  and 
down,  and  every  one  was  aware  that  there  was 
abroad  an  armed  man  who  would  neither  give  nor 
receive  quarter. 

For  two  days,  a  body  of  not  less  than  two  hundred 
armed  men  under  the  village  chiefs  made  ceaseless 
but  unavailing  search  for  the  murderer.  At  6  P.M. 
on  the  second  day,  Imam  Mamat  suddenly  appeared 
in  front  of  the  house  of  a  man  called  Lasam,  who 
had  barely  time  to  slam  the  door  in  his  face  and 
fasten  it.  The  house  at  that  moment  contained  four 
men,  five  women,  and  seven  children,  and  the  only 
weapon  they  possessed  was  one  spear. 

Lasam  asked  the  Imam  what  he  wanted,  and  he 
said  he  wished  to  be  allowed  to  sleep  in  the  house. 
He  was  told  he  could  do  so  if  he  would  throw  away 
his  arms,  and  to  this  the  Imam  replied  by  an  attempt 
to  spear  Lasam  through  the  window.  The  latter, 
however,  seized  the  weapon,  and  with  the  help  of 
his  son,  wrested  it  out  of  the  Imam's  hands,  Lasam 
receiving  a  stab  in  the  face  from  the  golok.  During 
this  struggle,  the  Imam  had  forced  himself  halfway 
through  the  window,  and  Lasam  seizing  his  own 
spear,  thrust  it  into  the  thigh  of  the  murderer,  who 
fell  to  the  ground.  In  the  fall,  the  shaft  of  the 
spear  broke  off,  leaving  the  blade  in  the  wound. 

41 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

It  was  now  pitch  dark,  and,  as  the  people  of  the 
house  did  not  know  the  extent  of  the  Imam's  injury 
or  what  he  was  doing,  a  man  went  out  by  the  back 
to  spread  the  news  and  call  the  village  headman. 
On  his  arrival  the  light  of  a  torch  showed  the  Imam 
lying  on  the  ground  with  his  weapons  out  of  reach, 
and  the  headman  promptly  pounced  upon  him  and 
secured  him. 

The  Imam  was  duly  handed  over  to  the  police  and 
conveyed  to  Teluk  Anson,  but  he  died  from  loss  of 
blood  within  twenty-four  hours  of  receiving  his  wound. 

Here  is  the  official  list  of  killed  and  wounded — 

KILLED. 

Alang  Rasak,  wife  of  Imam  Mamat  aged  33 

Bilal  Abu,  brother-in-law  of  Mamat  „  35 

Ngah  Intan,  wife  of  Bilal  Abu          .  „  32 

Puteh,  daughter  of  Bilal  Abu  .  ,,  4 

Mumin,  son  of  Bilal  Abu         .  „  7 

Uda  Majid  .           .          .          .          .  „  35 

WOUNDED. 

Kasim,  son  of  Bilal  Abu          .          .      aged  14 
Teh,  daughter  of  Bilal  Abu     .  „        6 

Mat  Sah      .          .          .          .  „     45 

Lasam          ..... 
42 


AMOK 

It  is  terrible  to  have  to  add  that  both  the  women 
were  far  advanced  in  pregnancy. 

Imam  Mamat  was  a  man  of  over  forty  years  of 
age,  of  good  repute  with  his  neighbours,  and  I  never 
heard  any  cause  suggested  why  this  quiet,  elderly 
man  of  devotional  habits  should  suddenly,  without 
apparent  reason,  develop  the  most  inhuman  instincts 
and  brutally  murder  a  number  of  men,  women,  and 
children,  his  nearest  relatives  and  friends.  It  is, 
however,  quite  possible  that  the  man  was  suffer- 
ing under  the  burden  of  some  real  or  fancied 
wrong  which,  after  long  brooding,  darkened  his 
eyes  and  possessed  him  with  this  insane  desire 
to  kill. 

An  autopsy  was  performed  on  the  murderer's 
body,  and  the  published  report  of  the  surgeon  says : 
"  I  hereby  certify  that  I  this  day  made  a  post-mortem 
examination  of  the  body  of  Imam  Mahomed,  and 
find  him  to  have  died  from  haemorrhage  from  a 
wound  on  the  outer  side  of  right  thigh ;  the  internal 
organs  were  healthy  except  that  the  membranes  of 
the  right  side  of  brain  were  more  adherent  than 
usual." 


43 


VII 
THE   JOGET 

Every  footstep  fell  as  lightly 
As  a  sunbeam  on  the  river 

LONGFELLOW'S  Spanish  Student 

MALAYS  are  not  dancers,  but  they  pay  profes- 
sional performers  to  dance  for  their  amuse- 
ment, and  consider  that  "  the  better  part "  is  with 
those  who  watch,  at  their  ease,  the  exertions  of  a 
small  class  whose  members  are  not  held  in  the 
highest  respect.  The  spectacle  usually  provided  is 
strangely  wanting  in  attraction  ;  a  couple  of  women 
shuffling  their  feet,  and  swaying  their  hands  in 
gestures  that  are  practically  devoid  of  grace  or  even 
variety — that  is  the  Malay  dance — and  it  is  accom- 
panied by  the  beating  of  native  drums,  the  striking 
together  of  two  short  sticks  held  in  either  hand,  and 
the  occasional  boom  of  a  metal  gong.  The  enter- 
tainment has  an  undoubted  fascination  for  Malays, 
but  it  generally  forms  part  of  a  theatrical  perform- 

44 


THE   JOGET 

ance,  and  for  Western  spectators  it  is  immeasur- 
ably dull. 

In  one  of  the  Malay  States,  however,  Pahang,  it 
has  for  years  been  the  custom  for. the  ruler  and  one 
or  two  of  his  near  relatives  to  keep  trained  dancing 
girls,  who  perform  what  is  called  the  "  Joget  " — a 
real  dance  with  an  accompaniment  of  something  like 
real  music,  though  the  orchestral  instruments  are 
very  rude  indeed. 

The  dancers,  budak  jogety  belong  to  the  Raja's 
household,  they  may  even  be  attached  to  him  by  a 
closer  tie  ;  they  perform  seldom,  only  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  their  lord  and  his  friends,  and  the  public 
are  not  admitted.  Years  ago  I  saw  such  a  dance, 
and  though  peculiar  to  Pahang  as  far  as  the  Malay 
States  are  concerned,  it  is  probable  that  it  came 
originally  from  Java ;  the  instruments  used  by  the 
orchestra  and  the  airs  played  are  certainly  far  more 
common  in  Java  and  Sumatra  than  in  the  Peninsula. 

I  had  gone  to  Pahang  on  a  political  mission 
acompanied  by  a  friend,  and  we  were  vainly 
courting  sleep  in  a  miserable  lodging,  when  at 
I  A.M.  a  message  came  from  the  Sultan  inviting  us 
to  witness  a  joget.  We  accepted  with  alacrity, 
and  at  once  made  our  way  to  the  astdna,  a 
picturesque,  well-built  and  commodious  house  on 

45 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

the  right  bank  of  the  Pahang  river.  A  palisade 
enclosed  the  courtyard,  and  the  front  of  the  house 
was  a  very  large  hall,  open  on  three  sides,  but 
covered  by  a  lofty  roof  of  fantastic  design  supported 
on  pillars.  The  floor  of  this  hall  was  approached 
by  three  wide  steps  continued  round  the  three  open 
sides,  the  fourth  being  closed  by  a  wooden  wall 
which  entirely  shut  off  the  private  apartments  save 
for  one  central  door  over  which  hung  a  heavy  cur- 
tain. The  three  steps  were  to  provide  sitting 
accommodation  according  to  their  rank  for  those 
admitted  to  the  astdna.  The  middle  of  the  floor, 
on  the  night  in  question,  was  covered  by  a  large 
carpet,  chairs  were  placed  for  us,  and  the  rest  of 
the  guests  sat  on  the  steps  of  the  dais. 

When  we  entered,  we  saw,  seated  on  the  carpet, 
four  girls,  two  of  them  about  eighteen  and  two 
about  eleven  years  old,  all  attractive  according  to 
Malay  ideas  of  beauty,  and  all  gorgeously  and 
picturesquely  clothed. 

On  their  heads  they  each  wore  a  large  and 
curious  but  very  pretty  ornament  of  delicate  work- 
manship— a  sort  of  square  flower  garden  where  all 
the  flowers  were  gold,  trembling  and  glittering  with 
every  movement  of  the  wearer.  These  ornaments 
were  secured  to  the  head  by  twisted  cords  of  silver 

46 


THE  JOGET 

and  gold.  The  girls'  hair,  combed  down  in  a  fringe, 
was  cut  in  a  perfect  oval  round  their  foreheads  and 
very  becomingly  dressed  behind. 

The  bodices  of  their  dresses  were  made  of  tight- 
fitting  silk,  leaving  the  neck  and  arms  bare,  whilst 
a  white  band  of  fine  cambric  (about  i  J  inches  wide), 
passing  round  the  neck,  came  down  on  the  front  of 
the  bodice  in  the  form  of  a  V,  and  was  there 
fastened  by  a  golden  flower. 

Round  their  waists  were  belts  fastened  with  large 
and  curiously  worked  pinding  or  buckles  of  gold, 
so  large  that  they  reached  quite  across  the  waist. 
The  rest  of  the  costume  consisted  of  a  skirt  of  cloth 
of  gold  (not  at  all  like  the  sarong),  reaching  to  the 
ankles,  while  a  scarf  of  the  same  material,  fastened 
in  its  centre  to  the  waist- buckle,  hung  down  to  the 
hem  of  the  skirt. 

All  four  dancers  were  dressed  alike,  except  that 
the  elder  girls  wore  white  silk  bodices  with  a  red 
and  gold  handkerchief,  folded  cornerwise,  tied  under 
the  arms  and  knotted  in  front.  The  points  of  the 
handkerchief  hung  to  the  middle  of  the  back.  In 
the  case  of  the  two  younger  girls  the  entire  dress 
was  of  one  material. 

On  their  arms  the  dancers  wore  numbers  of  gold 
bangles,  and  their  fingers  were  covered  with  diamond 

47 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

rings.  In  their  ears  were  fastened  the  diamond 
buttons  so  much  affected  by  Malays,  and  indeed 
now  by  Western  ladies.  Their  feet,  of  course, 
were  bare. 

We  had  ample  time  to  minutely  observe  these 
details  before  the  dance  commenced,  for  when  we 
came  into  the  hall  the  four  girls  were  sitting  down 
in  the  usual*  Eastern  fashion,  on  the  carpet,  bending 
forward,  their  elbows  resting  on  their  thighs,  and 
hiding  the  sides  of  their  faces,  which  were  towards 
the  audience,  with  fans  made  of  crimson  and  gilt 
paper  which  sparkled  in  the  light. 

On  our  entrance  the  band  struck  up,  and  our 
special  attention  was  called  to  the  orchestra,  as  the 
instruments  are  seldom  seen  in  the  Malay  Peninsula. 

There  were  two  chief  performers,  one  playing  on 
a  sort  of  harmonicon,  the  notes  of  which  he  struck 
with  pieces  of  stick  held  in  each  hand.  The  other, 
with  similar  pieces  of  wood,  played  on  inverted 
metal  bowls.  Both  these  performers  seemed  to 
have  sufficiently  hard  work,  but  they  played  with 
the  greatest  spirit  from  10  P.M.  till  5  A.M. 

The  harmonicon  is  called  by  Malays  chelempong, 
and  the  inverted  bowls,  which  give  a  pleasant  and 

*  The  attitude  is  that    obtained    by  transferring  the  body 
directly  from  a  kneeling  to  a  sitting  position. 

48 


THE   JOGET 

musical  sound  like  the  noise  of  rippling  water,  a? 
gambang.  The  other  members  of  the  orchestra) 
consisted  of  a  very  small  boy  who  played,  with  a 
very  large  and  thick  stick,  on  a  gigantic  gong — an 
old  woman  who  beat  a  drum  with  two  sticks,  and 
several  other  boys  who  played  on  instruments  like 
triangles  called  chdnang. 

All  these  performers,  we  were  told  with  much 
solemnity,  were  artists  of  the  first  order,  masters 
and  a  mistress  in  their  craft,  and  if  vigour  of  execu- 
tion counts  for  excellence  they  proved  the  justice  of 
the  praise. 

The  Hall,  of  considerable  size,  capable  of  accom- 
modating several  hundreds  of  people,  was  only 
dimly  lighted,  but  the  fact  that,  while  the  audience 
was  in  semi-darkness,  the  light  was  concentrated  on 
the  performers  added  to  the  effect.  Besides  our- 
selves I  question  whether  there  were  more  than 
twenty  spectators,  but  sitting  on  the  top  of  the  da'is 
near  to  the  dancers  it  was  hard  to  pierce  the  sur- 
rounding gloom. 

The  orchestra  was  placed  on  the  left  of  the 
entrance  to  the  Hall,  that  is  rather  to  the  side  and 
rather  in  the  background,  a  position  evidently  chosen 
with  due  regard  to  the  feelings  of  the  audience. 

From  the  elaborate  and  vehement  execution  of 

49  D 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

the  players,  and  the  want  of  regular  time  in  the 
music,  I  judged,  and  rightly,  that  we  had  entered  as 
the  overture  began.  During  its  performance,  the 
dancers  sat  leaning  forward,  hiding  their  faces  as  I 
have  described ;  but  when  it  concluded  and,  without 
any  break,  the  music  changed  into  the  regular 
rhythm  for  dancing,  the  four  girls  dropped  their 
fans,  raised  their  hands  in  the  act  of  Sembah  or 
homage,  and  then  began  the  dance  by  swaying  their 
bodies  and  slowly  waving  their  arms  and  hands  in 
the  most  graceful  movements,  making  much  and 
effective  use  all  the  while  of  the  scarf  hanging  from 
their  belts. 

Gradually  raising  themselves  from  a  sitting  to  a 
kneeling  posture,  acting  in  perfect  accord  in  every 
motion,  then  rising  to  their  feet,  they  floated  through 
a  series  of  figures  hardly  to  be  exceeded  in  grace 
and  difficulty,  considering  that  the  movements  are 
essentially  slow,  the  arms,  hands  and  body  being 
the  real  performers  whilst  the  feet  are  scarcely 
noticed  and  for  half  the  time  not  visible. 

They  danced  five  or  six  dances,  each  lasting 
quite  half  an  hour,  with  materially  different  figures 
and  time  in  the  music.  All  these  dances  I  was  told 
were  symbolical ;  one,  of  agriculture,  with  the  till- 
ing of  the  soil,  the  sowing  of  the  seed,  the  reaping 


THE  JOGET 

and  winnowing  of  the  grain,  might  easily  have  been 
guessed  from  the  dancer's  movements.  But  those 
of  the  audience  whom  I  was  near  enough  to  question 
were,  Malay-like,  unable  to  give  me  much  informa- 
tion. Attendants  stood  or  sat  near  the  dancers  and 
from  time  to  time,  as  the  girls  tossed  one  thing  on 
the  floor,  handed  them  another.  Sometimes  it  was 
a  fan  or  a  mirror  they  held,  sometimes  a  flower  or 
small  vessel,  but  oftener  their  hands  were  empty,  as 
it  is  in  the  management  of  the  fingers  that  the  chief 
art  of  Malay  dancers  consists. 

The  last  dance,  symbolical  of  war,  was  perhaps 
the  best,  the  music  being  much  faster,  almost 
inspiriting,  and  the  movements  of  the  dancers  more 
free  and  even  abandoned.  For  the  latter  half  of 
the  dance  they  each  held  a  wand,  to  represent  a 
sword,  bound  with  three  rings  of  burnished  gold 
which  glittered  in  the  light  like  precious  stones. 

This  nautch,  which  began  soberly,  like  the  others, 
grew  to  a  wild  revel  until  the  dancers  were,  or 
pretended  to  be,  possessed  by  the  Spirit  of  Dancing, 
hantu  mendri  as  they  called  it,  and  leaving  the 
Hall  for  a  moment  to  smear  their  fingers  and  faces 
with  a  fragrant  oil,  they  returned,  and  the  two 
eldest,  striking  at  each  other  with  their  wands 
seemed  inclined  to  turn  the  symbolical  into  a  real 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

battle.  They  were,  however,  after  some  trouble, 
caught  by  four  or  five  women  and  carried  forcibly 
out  of  the  Hall,  but  not  until  their  captors  had  been 
made  to  feel  the  weight  of  the  magic  wands.  The 
two  younger  girls,  who  looked  as  if  they  too  would 
like  to  be  "  possessed,"  but  did  not  know  how  to 
accomplish  it,  were  easily  caught  and  removed. 

The  band,  whose  strains  had  been  increasing  in 
wildness  and  in  time^  ceased  playing  on  the  removal 
of  the  dancers,  and  the  nautch,  which  had  begun  at 
10  P.M.,  was  over. 

The  Raja,  who  had  only  appeared  at  4  A.M.,  told 
me  that  one  of  the  elder  girls,  when  she  became 
"  properly  possessed,"  lived  for  months  on  nothing 
but  flowers,  a  pretty  and  poetic  conceit. 

As  we  left  the  Astana,  and  taking  boat  rowed 
slowly  to  the  vessel  waiting  for  us  off  the  river's 
mouth,  the  rising  sun  was  driving  the  fog  from  the 
numbers  of  lovely  green  islets,  that  seemed  to  float 
like  dew-drenched  lotus  leaves  on  the  surface  of  the 
shallow  stream. 


VIII 
THE   STORY   OF   MAT   ARIS 

I  smote  him  as  I  would  a  worm, 
With  heart  as  steeled,  with  nerve  as 

firm  j 
He  never  woke  again 

WHITTIKR 

IT  was  in  the  year  1876  that  a  man  named  Mat 
Aris,  of  no  occupation  and  less  repute,  per- 
suaded one  Sahit  to  take  his  wife  Salamah  and 
start  on  a  journey  through  the  jungle  to  a  distant 
country.  The  interest  of  Mat  Aris  in  this  couple 
was  a  desire  to  get  rid  of  Sahit  and  possess  himself 
of  the  woman  Salamah,  for  whom  he  had  conceived 
an  overmastering  passion. 

The  travellers  began  their  journey  at  a  spot  many 
miles  up  the  Perak  River ;  their  road  lay  along  a 
jungle  track,  and  so  sparsely  inhabited  was  the 
country  they  were  to  pass  through,  that  they  could 
not  even  find  a  habitation  in  which  to  pass  the 
night.  They  had  to  look  forward  to  many  days' 

53 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

journey  through  the  primaeval  forest,  the  home  of 
wild  beasts  and  Sakai  people,  aboriginal  tribes 
almost  as  shy  and  untamed  as  the  elephant,  the 
bison  and  the  rhinoceros,  with  which  they  share  the 
forests  of  the  interior. 

Sahit  and  his  wife  started  on  their  journey  in  the 
company  of  two  brothers  of  Mat  Aris,  but  meeting 
him  the  brothers  returned,  Mat  Aris  undertaking  the 
part  of  escort.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  first  day's 
march  a  Sakai  named  Pah  Patin  met  the  three,  and, 
being  known  to  Mat  Aris,  that  worthy  ordered  him 
to  accompany  them.  Pah  Patin  did  as  he  was  told, 
and  when  evening  came  on,  as  there  was  no  dwelling 
within  miles,  a  shelter  was  built  in  the  jungle 
wherein  the  night  was  to  be  passed. 

It  is  as  well  to  understand  what  a  Malay  jungle 
is  like,  for  a  good  soil,  well  watered,  in  one  of  the 
hottest  and  dampest  climates  in  the  world,  produces 
a  forest  that  is  not  altogether  the  counterpart  of  all 
other  forests. 

The  reading  public,  no  doubt,  believes  that  the 
jungle  of  Darkest  Africa  is  a  place  of  gloom,  terror 
and  difficulty  without  parallel.  It  may  be  so,  but 
few  of  those  who  know  it  have  visited  Malaya, 
and  one  is  apt  to  exaggerate  one's  own  troubles. 
Whatever  gruesome  peculiarities  there  are  about 

54 


THE   STORY   OF   MAT   ARTS 

the  African  jungle,  it  seems  possible  for  large  bodies 
of  men  and  women  to  make  their  way  through  it  at 
a  fair  pace  without  great  difficulty.  In  that  respect 
at  least  it  has  the  advantage  of  the  Malay  forest. 

To  begin  with  there  are  the  trees  of  all  sizes, 
from  the  smallest  shoot  to  the  giants  of  the  jungle, 
towering  to  a  height  of  150  feet.  I  know  that  is 
not  excessive,  but  in  this  forcing  climate  there  are 
an  enormous  number  of  such  trees,  treading  on  each 
others  roots  and  crowding  the  older  and  feebler  out 
of  existence.  These  are  nothing,  they  afford  a 
pleasant  shade  from  the  pitiless  rays  of  the  sun,  and 
though  this  mitigated  light  cannot  by  any  stretch  of 
imagination  be  called  darkness,  it  is  possible  to  take 
off  your  hat  without  fear  of  sunstroke.  If  it  were 
only  for  the  trees  jungle  walking  would  be  pleasant 
enough. 

Under  them,  however,  there  is  an  undergrowth 
so  thick  as  to  beggar  description.  Every  conceiv- 
able kind  of  palm,  of  bush,  of  creeper,  flourishes 
there  with  a  luxuriance,  with  a  prodigality  of  vege- 
table life,  that  shows  how  richly  Nature  deserves 
her  title  of  Mother.  It  is  a  curious  fact,  remarked 
by  every  one  who  has  been  brought  in  contact  with 
the  Malay  forest,  that  a  very  large  number  of  its 
shrubs,  many  of  its  palms,  and  most  of  its  creepers 

55 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

are  armed  with  spikes  of  various  length,  but  all  of 
about  equal  sharpness.  Some  are  so  formidable 
that  the  thickest  skinned  beasts  avoid  contact  with 
them,  and  no  human  apparel  has  been  devised,  short 
of  armour,  that  will  resist  their  powers  of  penetration 
-and  destruction.  Under  the  creepers  lie  fallen  trees, 
and  the  ground  is  covered  with  ferns,  rank  grasses, 
and  what  is  generally  termed  undergrowth,  so  thick 
that  the  soil  is  often  entirely  hidden.  It  may  be 
added  as  a  minor  but  unpleasant  detail  that  this 
tangle  of  vegetation  harbours  every  species  of  crawl- 
ing, jumping,  and  flying  unpleasantness  ;  myriads  of 
leeches  that  work  their  way  through  stockings  and 
garments  of  any  but  the  closest  texture  ;  centipedes, 
scorpions,  wasps,  and  stinging  flies,  caterpillars  that 
thrust  their  hairs  into  the  skin  and  leave  them  there 
to  cause  intolerable  irritation,  snakes  poisonous  and 
otherwise,  ants  with  the  most  murderous  proclivities, 
and  last,  but  not  least,  mosquitoes  that,  when  they 
find  a  human  being,  make  the  most  of  their  oppor- 
tunity. I  have  not  exhausted  the  catalogue  of  pests, 
.but  only  given  a  sample  of  what  any  traveller  will 
meet  in  a  day's  journey  through  a  Malay  jungle. 
There  is  a  wasp  called  "the  reminder,"  a  thorn 
called  "  Kite's  talons,"  and  an  ant  known  as  the  "  fire 
ant."  The  names  are  as  apt  as  they  are  suggestive. 

56 


THE   STORY   OF   MAT  ARIS 

To  force  a  way  through  such  a  place  is  an  im- 
possibility, even  on  all  fours  it  could  not  be  crawled 
through,  the  only  means  of  progress  is  by  cutting  a 
path. 

No  one  attempts  to  walk  through  virgin  forest 
unless  he  be  in  pursuit  of  game,  or  has  some  special 
object  and  the  means  to  clear  his  way.  All  Malay 
jungle  is  not  as  thick  as  that  I  have  described,  and 
as  the  beasts  sought  by  the  sportsman  naturally 
frequent  the  more  open  places,  tracking  is  possible, 
though  severe  enough  work  even  at  the  slow  rate 
of  progress  necessary  to  enable  the  pursuers  to 
approach  the  quarry  without  being  seen  or  heard. 

The  lower  and  more  swampy  the  country  the 
thicker  the  undergrowth,  and  I  have  often  noticed 
that,  where  a  river  flows  between  low  banks  clothed 
with  virgin  forest,  it  would  be  almost  impossible  for 
even  a  strong  swimmer  to  force  his  way  out  of  the 
water  on  to  the  land  through  the  thickly  interlaced 
tangle  of  branches,  rattans,  and  other  thorny  creepers 
that  stretch  their  uninviting  arms  from  the  bank  far 
over  the  water  of  the  stream. 

It  will  naturally  be  asked  how  travellers  make 
their  way  through  jungle  such  as  I  have  described. 
The  reply  is  that  there  are  existing  tracks  (not 
worthy  of  the  name  of  footpaths)  which  have  been 

57 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

used  for  ages,  originally  no  doubt  formed  by  the 
passing  and  repassing  of  wild  beasts,  then  adopted 
by  the  Sakais,  and  lastly  by  Malays.  In  other 
cases  similar  means  of  passage  have  been  formed  by 
driving  tame  elephants  through  the  forest  from  place 
to  place.  For  the  pedestrian,  especially  if  he  be 
clad  in  the  garments  and  boots  of  western  civilisa- 
tion, progress  through  the  succession  of  holes  filled 
with  water  arid  mud  which  marks  the  track  of 
elephants  is  neither  rapid  nor  pleasant. 

That  is  the  jungle  of  daylight. 

When  once  the  sun  has  set  darkness  falls  upon 
everything  within  the  forest,  and  it  is  a  darkness  so 
absolute  as  to  give  to  wide-open  eyes  the  impression 
of  blindness.  Those  who  have  been  so  unfortunate 
as  to  be  benighted  in  a  Malay  jungle  without  torches 
or  lanterns  know  that  there  is  nothing  to  be  done 
but  to  sit  down  and  wait  for  day. 

Such  were  the  surroundings  in  which  Sahit  and 
his  wife  found  themselves  compelled  to  spend  a 
night  in  the  company  of  Mat  Aris  and  his  Sakai 
acquaintance. 

Mat  Aris  had  a  house  in  this  neighbourhood, 
and  on  the  day  following  the  events  already  narrated 
a  Malay  went  to  the  Headman  of  his  village  and  said 
there  was  a  woman  in  the  house  of  Mat  Aris  sobbing 

58 


THE   STORY   OF   MAT   ARIS 

and  saying  her  husband  had  been  murdered.  The 
Headman  went  to  the  place  and  saw  Mat  Aris  was 
there  and  a  woman  with  him.  Mat  Aris  had  a 
reputation  which  probably  induced  this  Headman 
not  to  attempt  to  interfere  with  him  further  than  to 
keep  a  watch  on  his  proceedings. 

In  places  where  there  are  no  roads,  and  often 
when  they  do  exist,  Malays  live  on  or  close  by  the 
bank  of  a  river,  and,  on  the  following  day,  the  Head- 
man observed  Mat  Aris  and  the  woman  in  a  boat 
going  down  the  stream,  here  a  succession  of  rapids 
and  very  difficult  to  navigate.  The  Headman 
followed  by  a  jungle  track,  and  getting  near  to  a 
place  called  Kota  Tampan,  the  first  police  station, 
he  hurried  on  and  gave  the  information  he  pos- 
sessed. 

When  Mat  Aris  arrived  at  Kota  Tampan  he 
landed,  and  was  at  once  arrested  by  the  native 
sergeant  in  charge  of  the  station,  who  accused  him 
of  murdering  Sahit.  Mat  Aris  denied  the  charge, 
but  the  woman  said  her  name  was  Salamah,  and  the 
sergeant  said  he  must  take  them  both  to  his  Divi- 
sional Headquarters  at  Kuala  Kangsar,  distant  thirty 
miles  or  more  by  river.  Accordingly  the  sergeant 
and  some  police  entered  the  boat  and  a  start  was 
made  for  Kuala  Kangsar.  It  shortly  appeared  that 

59 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

the  police,  who  were  natives  of  India,  were  not  very 
skilful  in  the  management  of  the  boat,  and,  as  Mat 
Aris  offered  his  services  to  steer  and  there  was  no 
doubt  of  his  ability,  this  important  post  was  given 
to  him.  Choosing  a  convenient  place  where  the 
stream  was  both  deep  and  rapid,  Mat  Aris  upset 
the  boat  and  threw  every  one  into  the  water.  Then 
seizing  the  woman,  he  swam  with  her  to  the  oppo- 
site bank  and  they  both  disappeared.  The  police 
had  enough  to  do,  hampered  by  their  uniforms,  to 
get  out  of  the  river  with  their  lives. 

For  the  next  eight  years  Mat  Aris  eluded  all 
attempts  at  capture.  He  lived  in  the  jungle  beyond 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Perak  Government,  and,  with 
his  brothers,  became  the  terror  of  the  neighbour- 
hood, levying  black  mail  on  all  who  passed  his  way. 
Mat  Aris  was  the  ringleader,  and  even  more  serious 
crimes  were  laid  at  his  door. 

The  woman  Salamah  was  known  to  be  living  with 
Mat  Aris  as  his  wife,  and  it  was  also  known  that 
she  had  a  child  by  him.  Of  Sahit  nothing  more  was 
seen  or  heard. 

Meanwhile  the  Government  of  Perak  had  estab- 
lished a  station  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  spot 
where  Sahit  had  disappeared,  and  complaints  of  the 

lawless  proceedings  of  Mat  Aris  were    constantly 

60 


THE   STORY   OF   MAT   ARIS 

made  to  the  officer  in  charge  of  it,  but  he  was  help- 
less, for  the  outlaw  was  beyond  his  reach. 

Eight  years  is,  however,  a  long  time,  especially 
to  an  Eastern,  and  travellers  worth-  robbing  having 
grown  scarce,  Mat  Aris,  in  the  consciousness  of  his 
own  rectitude,  went  to  the  Perak  officer  and  asked 
for  work.  That  mistaken  step  resulted  in  his  arrest 
on  the  strength  of  the  warrant  issued  eight  years 
before. 

This  time  the  prisoner  was  conveyed  in  safety 
to  Kuala  Kangsar,  where  he  was  duly  tried. 

It  is  one  thing  to  give  information  against  a  man 
who  is  free,  willing,  and  able  to  resent  it,  and  quite 
a  different  thing  to  say  what  you  know  when  that 
man  is  in  the  toils.  There  was  a  witness  who  was 
likely  to  know  what  had  happened  to  Sahit,  and  that 
was  Pah  Patin  the  Sakai,  but  Pah  Patin  did  not 
speak,  and  Mat  Aris  and  Salamah  were  the  only 
other  people  who  knew  what  he  could  say.  At 
least  that  appeared  to  be  so,  for  who  else  would  be 
likely  to  know  what  happened  at  night  in  the  depths 
of  the  jungle  miles  from  the  nearest  habitation? 

As  for  Salamah,  like  the  Sabine  women,  she 
seemed  to  have  reconciled  herself  to  her  captor. 

But  the  strange  part  of  this  story  is  that,  impos- 
sible as  it  may  seem,  there  was  a  witness  who 

61 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

saw  what  took  place  in  that  hut  in  the  forest, 
whither  the  unsuspecting  Sahit  had  been  lured 
with  his  wife  under  the  escort  of  Mat  Aris. 

That  witness  was  a  Sakai  man  who  had  been 
collecting  gttah  (gutta-percha),  and,  attracted  by 
the  firelight,  noiselessly  approached  the  hut  and, 
whilst  wondering  at  the  unusual  sight  of  these 
strangers  sleeping  in  his  wild  and  lonely  jungle,  he 
saw  Mat  Aris  get  up  and  stab  to  death  the  man, 
who  stood  between  him  and  the  woman  he  had 
determined  to  possess. 

The  Sakai  saw  more  than  that,  but  when  once 
he  had  disclosed  what  he  knew,  Pah  Patin  was 
found  and  induced  to  tell  his  tale,  and  other  Sakais 
completed  the  narrative. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Sahit  and  his  wife, 
Mat  Aris  and  the  Sakai  Pah  Patin  had  built  a 
shelter  where  they  proposed  to  spend  the  night.  A 
fire  was  lighted,  food  was  cooked  and  eaten,  and 
the  four  lay  down  to  sleep.  On  one  side  of  the 
fire  Mat  Aris,  next  him  Salamah,  and  then  Sahit; 
on  the  other  was  the  Sakai. 

The  man  and  his  wife  slept,  the  other  Malay 
pretended  to  sleep,  and  the  Sakai  fell  into  that 
state  which  passes  for  sleep  with  creatures  that  are 

always  on  the  alert  for  possible  danger. 

62 


THE   STORY   OF   MAT   ARIS 

Half  an  hour  later  Mat  Aris  rose  up  softly  and 
with  a  kris  stabbed  Sahit  in  the  throat.  The 
wretched  man  staggered  to  his  feet,  fell  and  tried  to 
struggle  up  again  when  Mat  Aris  shouted  to  the 
Sakai  to  strike  him  or  he  would  kill  him  also. 
Pah  Patin  obeyed,  and  hit  the  wounded  man  on  the 
head  with  a  stick.  "  Then,"  said  Pah  Patin  when 
at  last  he  told  the  story,  "  there  was  a  little  life  in 
him,  but  he  never  moved  after  I  struck  him." 

The  woman  rushed  out  of  the  hut,  but  Mat  Aris 
followed  her  and  brought  her  back  to  the  mat  by 
the  body  of  the  murdered  man,  and  there  they 
slept  together,  the  Sakai  returning  to  his  place  on  the 
other  side  of  the  fire.  The  night  was  young  then. 

Before  daylight  Pah  Patin  left  Mat  Aris  and 
Salamah  still  sleeping  by  the  corpse,  and  by  order 
of  Mat  Aris  fetched  two  more  Sakais,  and  these 
three  buried  Sahit  by  the  bank  of  the  river  in  the 
presence  of  Mat  Aris  and  the  woman. 

Years  afterwards,  when  the  details  were  known, 
an  attempt  was  made  to  find  the  body,  but  it  failed  ; 
decomposition  in  this  climate  is  rapid,  even  bones 
disappear,  and  the  river  had  many  times  flooded  its 
banks,  trees  had  gone  and  others  grown,  the  land- 
marks were  no  longer  the  same,  and  possibly  the 
exact  site  of  the  grave  was  missed. 

63 


IX 
LATAH 

Ofttimes  he  falleth  into  the  fire  and 
oft  into  the  water 

MATTHEW  xvii.  14 

IN  the  spring  of  1892  I  was  privileged,  by  the 
kindness  of  a  friend  and  the  courtesy  of  Dr. 
Luys,  to  visit  the  Hospital  de  la  Charite  in  Paris, 
where  I  witnessed  some  very  remarkable  and  in- 
teresting experiments  in  suggestion.  There  were 
patients  undergoing  successful  treatment  for  nervous 
disorders  where  the  disease  was  in  process  of  gradual 
relief  by  passing  from  the  afflicted  person  to  a 
medium  without  injury  to  the  latter  ;  there  was 
the  strange  power  of  hypnotising,  influencing  and 
awakening  certain  sujets  whose  nervous  organisations 
seem  to  be  specially  susceptible,  and  there  was  the 
astonishing  influence  of  the  magnet  over  these  same 
sujets  when  already  hypnotised.  There  is  some- 
thing more  than  usually  uncanny  in  the  sight  of  a 

64 


LATAH 

person  filled  with  an  inexplicable  and  unnatural 
delight  in  the  contemplation  of  the  positive  end 
of  a  magnet,  and  when  the  negative  end  is  sud- 
denly turned  towards  him,  to  -see  him  instantly 
fall  down  unconscious  as  though  struck  by  light- 
ning. 

The  sujets  (there  were  two  of  them,  a  man  and  a 
woman)  described  the  appearance  of  the  positive  end 
of  the  magnet  as  producing  a  beautiful  blue  flame 
about  a  foot  high,  so  exquisite  in  colour  and  beauty 
that  it  transported  them  with  delight.  As  to  the 
negative  end,  they  reluctantly  explained,  in  hesi- 
tating words  and  with  every  appearance  of  dread, 
that  there  also  was  a  flame,  but  a  red  one  of  fearful 
and  sinister  import. 

I  was  deeply  interested  in  these  "  manifestations," 
both  for  their  own  strangeness  and  because  I  had 
in  the  Malay  Peninsula  seen  equally  extraordinary 
proceedings  of  a  somewhat  similar  kind. 

Amongst  Malays  there  is  a  well-known  disease 
(I  use  the  word  for  want  of  a  better)  called  Idtah; 
it  is  far  more  common  at  certain  places  than  at  others, 
and  amongst  certain  divisions  of  the  great  Malay 
family.  Thus  while  there  is  generally  one  or  more 
orang  Idtah  to  be  found  in  every  kampong  in  Krian, 

where  the  Malays  are  mostly  from  Kedah,  in  other 

65  E 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

parts  of  Perak  it  is  rare  to  ever  meet  a  Idtah  person. 
Again,  speaking  generally,  the  disease  seems  to  be 
more  common  amongst  the  people  of  Amboina,  in 
Netherlands  India,  than  those  of  Java,  Sumatra  or 
the  Malay  Peninsula.  In  both  cases  heredity  is  pro- 
bably accountable  for  the  result,  whatever  may  have 
been  the  original  cause  to  produce  the  affliction  in 
certain  places  more  than  in  others.  I  can  only 
speak  of  my  own  experience  and  what  I  have 
personally  seen,  for  no  English  authority  appears 
to  have  studied  the  matter  or  attempted  to  either 
observe  Idtah  people,  diagnose  the  disease  (if  it  is 
one),  search  for  its  cause  or  attempt  to  cure  it.  I 
can  vouch  for  facts  but  nothing  more. 

In  1874  I  was  sent  in  H.M.S.  Hart  to  reside 
with  the  .Sultan  of  Selangor.  Though  His  High- 
ness's  personal  record  was  one  of  which  he  might 
be  proud,  for  he  was  said  to  have  killed  ninety-nine 
men  (sd  rdtus  kiirang  sdtu)  with  his  own  hand,  his 
State  was  not  altogether  a  happy  one,  for  it  had 
been  the  fighting-ground  of  several  ambitious  young 
Rajas  for  some  years.  An  unusually  hideous  piracy, 
personally  conducted  by  one  of  the  Sultan's  own 
sons,  and  committed  on  a  Malacca  trading  vessel, 
had  necessitated  a  visit  from  the  China  fleet,  and 
when  the  perpetrators,  or  those  who  after  due 

66 


LATAH 

inquiry  appeared  to  be  the  perpetrators,  had  been 
executed  (the  Sultan  lending  his  own  kris  for  the 
ceremony),  I  was  sent  to  see  that  these  "  boyish 
amusements,"  as  His  Highness  called  them,  were 
not  repeated.  The  place  where  the  Sultan  then 
lived  was  hardly  a  desirable  residence,  even  from 
a  Malay  point  of  view,  and  it  has  for  years  now 
been  almost  deserted.  Bandar  Tfrmdsa,  as  it  was 
grandiloquently  styled,  was  a  collection  of  huts  on  a 
mud  flat  enclosed  between  the  Langat  and  Jugra 
rivers.  It  was  only  seven  miles  from  the  sea,  and 
at  high  tide  most  of  the  place  was  under  water. 

With  me  there  went  twenty-five  Malay  police 
from  Malacca,  and  we  lived  all  together  in  an  old 
stockade  on  the  bank  of  the  Langat  river.  Whether 
it  was  the  mosquitoes,  which  for  numbers  and 
venom  could  not  be  matched,  or  whether  it  was  the 
evil  reputation  of  the  place  for  deeds  of  violence  is 
needless  to  inquire,  but  the  police  were  seized  with 
panic  and  had  to  be  replaced  by  another  batch  from 
Singapore,  selected  not  so  much  on  account  of  their 
virtues  as  their  so-called  vices.  The  exchange  was 
satisfactory,  for  whatever  sins  they  committed  they 
showed  no  signs  of  panic. 

Later  on  I  was  encouraged  by  the  statement  that 
Bandar  Termasa,  for  all  its  unpromising  appearance, 

67 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

was  a  place  for  men,  where  those  who  had  a  differ- 
ence settled  it  promptly  with  the  kris,  and  cowards 
who  came  there  either  found  their  courage  or 
departed.  A  story  that  amused  the  gossips  was 
that,  as  a  badly  wounded  man  was  carried  from  the 
duelling  field  past  the  palisade  which  enclosed  the 
Sultan's  house,  His  Highness  had  asked,  through 
the  bars,  what  was  the  matter,  and,  being  told,  had 
laconically  remarked,  "  If  he  is  wounded,  doctor 
him  ;  if  he  is  dead,  bury  him." 

During  my  residence  in  the  place  a  lady,  for 
jealousy,  stabbed  a  man  of  considerable  note  thirteen 
times  with  his  own  dagger,  and  sent  the  next 
morning  to  know  whether  I  would  like  to  purchase 
it,  as  she  did  not  much  fancy  the  weapon.  The 
man  was  not  killed,  and  made  no  complaint. 
Another  lady,  for  a  similar  reason,  visited  our 
stockade  one  night,  pushed  the  sentry  on  one 
side,  and,  finding  the  man  she  wanted,  attempted 
to  stab  him  with  a  long  kris  she  had  brought  for 
that  purpose. 

That  was  then  the  state  of  society  in  Bandar 
Termasa. 

I  have  said  we  lived  all  together  in  a  stockade. 
It  was  a  very  rude  structure  with  log  walls  about 

six  feet  thick  and  eight  feet  high,  a  mud  floor,  a 

68 


LATAH 

thatch  roof,  and  no  doors.  Outside  it  was  a  high 
watch-tower  of  the  same  materials,  but  the  ladder 
to  it  had  fallen  down.  Of  roads  there  were  none, 
but  a  mud  path  ran  through  the  stockade  from 
river  bank  to  village,  distant  some  300  yards.  My 
own  accommodation  was  a  cot  borrowed  from  the 
Hart  and  slung  between  two  posts,  while  the  men 
slept  on  the  walls  of  the  stockade. 

The  place  had  drawbacks  other  than  mosquitoes, 
for  the  public  path  ran  through  it,  the  tide  at  high 
water  completely  covered  the  floor,  and  the  log 
walls  were  full  of  snakes.  The  state  of  the  sur- 
roundings will  best  be  understood  when  I  say  that 
during  the  many  months  I  lived  there  I  did  not 
wear  boots  outside  the  stockade,  because  there  was 
nothing  to  walk  upon  but  deep  mud,  and  that  the 
only  water  fit  to  use  was  contained  in  a  well  or 
pond  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off,  to  which  I  walked 
every  day  to  bathe. 

With  the  second  batch  of  police  had  come  an 
European  inspector,  and  he  and  I  were  the  only 
white  men  in  the  country. 

Amongst  the  twenty-five  police  were  two  men  of 
the  name  of  Kasim ;  they  were  both  natives  of 
Amboina,  but  very  different  in  disposition,  and  they 
were  known  among  their  comrades  as  Kasim  BZsar 

69 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

and  Kasim  Ktchil — that  is  Kasim  Major  and  Kasim 
Minor. 

Kasim  Major  was  a  quiet,  reserved,  silent  man  of 
about  twenty-five,  and  I  afterwards  realised  that 
he  had  a  somewhat  violent  temper  when  roused. 
Kasim  Minor,  on  the  contrary,  was  a  smiling, 
talkative,  happy,  and  pleasant-looking  young  fellow 
of  about  twenty.  They  were  not  related  to  each 
other  in  any  way. 

I  used  often  to  be  away  on  the  coast  and  up 
river,  and  on  my  return  from  one  of  these  expedi- 
tions I  noticed  the  men  teasing  Kasim  Minor,  and 
saw  at  once  that  he  was  Idtah.  I  questioned  the 
inspector,  and  he  told  me  that  during  my  absence 
he  had  one  day  been  away  on  duty  for  some  hours, 
and  when  he  returned,  about  4  P.M.,  he  saw  Kasim 
Minor  up  a  coco-nut  tree  just  outside  the  stockade. 
On  asking  him  what  he  was  doing  there,  he  replied 
he  could  not  come  down  because  there  was  a  snake 
at  the  bottom  of  the  tree.  In  reality  there  was  a 
bit  of  rattan  tied  round  the  tree,  and,  this  being 
removed,  Kasim  came  down. 

Now,  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  climb  a  coco-nut 
tree  ;  it  requires  a  special  training  to  do  it  at  all, 
and  Kasim  did  not  possess  it.  But  the  inspector 
ascertained  that  the  other  police  had  found  out  by 

70 


LATAH 

accident  that  their  comrade  was  Idtah,  that  they  had 
ordered  him  to  climb  the  tree,  which  he  had  at 
once  done,  and  that  then,  out  of  sheer  devilry, 
some  one  had  taken  a  bit  of  rattan,  said,  "  Do  you 
see  this  snake  ?  I  will  tie  it  round  the  tree,  and 
then  you  can't  come  down,"  and  so  left  him  from 
10  A.M.  till  the  afternoon,  when  the  inspector 
returned  and  released  him. 

The  time  of  Kasim's  penance  was  probably 
greatly  exaggerated,  but  that  is  how  the  story  was 
told  to  me,  and  of  all  that  follows  I  was  an  eye- 
witness. 

I  made  Kasim  Minor  my  orderly,  and  as  he  was- 
constantly  with  me  I  had  better  opportunities  of 
studying  his  peculiarities.  About  this  time  also  I 
learnt  that  Kasim  Major  was  also  Idtah. 

Speaking  generally,  it  was  only  necessary  for  any 
one  to  attract  the  attention  of  either  of  these  men 
by  the  simplest  means,  holding  up  a  finger,  calling 
them  by  name  in  a  rather  pointed  way,  touching 
them  or  even,  when  close  by,  to  look  them  hard  in 
the  face,  and  instantly  they  appeared  to  lose  all 
control  of  themselves  and  would  do,  not  only  what- 
ever they  were  told  to  do,  but  whatever  was  sug- 
gested by  a  sign. 

I  have  seen  many  Idtah  people,  male  and  female, 
71 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

but  never  any  quite  like  these  two,  none  so  sus- 
ceptible to  outside  influence,  so  ready  to  blindly  obey 
a  word  or  a  sign. 

The  kindly  disposition  of  Kasim  Minor  made  him 
quite  harmless,  but  the  other  Kasim  was  rather  a 
dangerous  subject  to  play  tricks  with,  as  I  will  pre- 
sently explain. 

The  Idtah  man  or  woman  usually  met  with,  if 
suddenly  startled,  by  a  touch,  a  noise,  or  the  sight 
of  something  unexpected,  will  not  only  show  all  the 
signs  of  a  very  nervous  person  but  almost  invariably 
will  fire  off  a  volley  of  expressions  more  or  less 
obscene,  having  no  reference  at  all  to  the  circum- 
stance which  has  suddenly  aroused  attention.  As 
a  rule  it  is  necessary  to  startle  these  people  before 
they  will  say  or  do  anything  to  show  that  they  are 
differently  constituted  to  their  neighbours,  and  when 
they  have  betrayed  themselves  either  by  word  or 
deed  their  instinct  is  to  get  away  as  quickly  as 
possible.  Children  and  even  grown-up  people 
cannot  always  resist  the  pleasure  of  <c  bating "  a 
Idtah  person  ;  for  one  reason  because  it  is  so  exceed- 
ingly easy,  for  another  because  they  are  inclined  on 
the  spur  of  the  moment  to  do  ludicrous  things  or 
say  something  they  would  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances be  ashamed  of.  Almost  invariably  Idtah 

72 


LATAH 

people  of  this  class  (and  it  is  by  far  the  most  common 
one)  are  very  good  humoured  and  never  seem  to 
think  of  resenting  the  liberty  taken  with  their 
infirmity.  If  by  word  or  deed  they  commit  them- 
selves (and  that  is  not  uncommon)  they  either  run 
away,  or  appear  to  be  unconscious  of  having  said 
or  done  anything  unusual  (this  however  is  rare),  or 
they  simply  say,  "  I  am  Idtah"  as  a  full  explanation 
and  excuse. 

If  any  one  present  accidentally  drops  something  on 
the  floor,  if  a  lizard  falls  from  the  roof  on  to  or  near 
a  Idtah  person,  if  the  wind  blows  the  shutter  of  a 
window  to  with  a  bang,  a  Idtah  person  of  the  class 
I  speak  of  will  probably  find  it  necessary  to  at  least 
say  something  not  usually  heard  in  polite  society. 
Of  this  class  by  far  the  majority  are  women. 

I  have  never  seen  a  Idtah  boy  or  girl,  but  I  know 
they  are  to  be  found,  though  the  disease  certainly 
becomes  more  evident  as  the  subject  grows  older. 

It  must  be  understood  that  except  when  under 
influence,  when  actually  showing  the  evidences  of 
this  strange  peculiarity,  Idtah  people  are  undis- 
tinguishable  from  others.  It  is  sufficient  proof  of 
this  that  amongst  my  twenty-five  police  there 
should  have  been  two  men  more  completely  Idtah 
than  any  I  have  seen  before  or  since. 

73 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

I  took  occasion  to  carefully  observe  the  two 
Kasims.  It  was  impossible  to  always  prevent  their 
companions  teasing  them,  especially  in  a  place 
where  there  was  absolutely  no  form  of  amusement 
and  all  the  conditions  of  life  were  as  unpleasant  as 
they  well  could  be,  but  no  harm  was  ever  done,  and 
I  am  satisfied  that  while  influence  was  in  any  way 
exercised  over  the  Idtah  man  he  was  not  conscious 
of  his  own  actions,  and  directly  it  was  removed  he 
became  his  reasoning  other  self,  and  the  utmost 
that  remained  on  his  mind,  or  came  to  him  with  the 
recovery  of  his  own  will,  was  that  he  might  have 
done  something  foolish. 

If  the  attention  of  either  of  these  men  was 
arrested,  as  I  have  said  by  word,  sign,  or  a  mean- 
ing glance,  from  that  moment  until  the  influence 
was  removed,  the  Idtah  man  would  do  whatever  he 
was  told  or  signed  to  do  without  hesitation,  whether 
the  act  signified  were  difficult,  dangerous,  or  painful. 
When  once  under  this  influence  any  one  present 
could  give  the  order  and  the  Idtah  man  would 
immediately  obey  it  ;  not  only  that,  but  even  at 
some  distance  (as  in  the  coco-nut  tree  incident),  he 
appeared  to  be  equally  subject  to  the  will  imposed 
on  his  actions. 

A  curious  thing  about  both  these  men  was  that, 

74 


LATAH 

having  attracted  the  attention  of  either,  if  you  said, 
"  Kasim,  go  and  hit  that  man,"  he  would  invariably 
repeat  what  was  said,  word  for  word,  including  his 
own  name,  while  he  carried  out  the  order.  When 
the  person  hit  turned  on  him,  Kasim  would  say, 
"It  was  not  I  who  hit  you,  but  that  man  who 
ordered  me." 

I  have  seen  Kasim  the  younger,  when  the  man 
influencing  him  put  his  own  finger  in  his  mouth  and 
pretended  to  bite  it,  imitate  the  action  but  realty 
bite  his  finger  and  bite  it  hard.  Similarly  I  have 
seen  him,  in  imitation  and  without  a  word  being 
said,  take  a  lighted  brand  from  the  fire,  and  he  would 
have  put  it  in  his  mouth  if  the  experiment  had  been 
carried  so  far.  Some  one  told  Him  one  day  to 
jump  into  the  river,  and  he  did  not  get  out  again 
till  he  had  swum  nearly  two  hundred  yards,  for  the 
stream  was  both  broad  and  deep,  with  a  terrible 
current,  and  infested  by  crocodiles.  If  at  any 
moment  you  called  out  "  Tolong  Kasim"  ("  help  ! 
Kasim  "),  the  instant  he  heard  it  he  would  jump  up 
and  crying  "  Tolong  Kasim,"  dash  straight  to  you 
over  all  obstacles.  If  then  you  had  put  a  weapon 
in  his  hand  and  told  him  to  slay  any  one  within 
reach  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  he  would  have 
done  it  without  hesitation. 

75 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

I  have  said  there  was  a  ladderless  watch-tower 
outside  the  stockade.  The  police  wanted  firewood, 
they  were  not  allowed  to  burn  the  logs  forming  our 
walls,  but  at  the  top  of  the  watch-tower  there  were 
also  log  walls  that  they  were  told  they  could  burn. 
They  were  lazy,  however,  and  did  not  see  how  they 
were  going  to  get  up,  so  they  ordered  Kasim  the 
younger  to  climb  up,  which  he  did  as  he  had 
climbed  the  coco-nut  tree,  and,  when  once  there, 
they  told  him  to  throw  down  logs  until  they  thought 
they  had  enough.  I  watched  that  operation,  and 
the  feverish  haste  with  which  the  man  swarmed  up 
one  of  the  supports,  gained  the  platform  of  the 
tower,  and  threw  down  huge  logs  as  though  his 
life  depended  or*  it,  was  rather  remarkable.  I  gave 
orders  that  the  man's  infirmity  was  not  to  be  used 
for  this  purpose  again,  but  in  my  absence  I  know 
that  when  more  firewood  was  wanted  Kasim  went 
up  to  the  watch-tower  for  it  until  that  supply  was 
exhausted. 

The  path  from  the  stockade  to  the  village  was  in 
sight  of  the  stockade  throughout  its  length,  and  one 
day  I  noticed  Kasim  Minor,  as  he  walked  leisurely 
down  this  mud  embankment,  stop  every  now  and 
then  and  behave  in  a  peculiar  fashion  as  though  he 
were  having  conversation  with  the  frogs,  snakes  and 

76 


LATAH 

other  denizens  of  the  ditches  that  bordered  the  path. 
When  he  had  gone  half  way  he  stopped  and  peeped 
up  into  the  branches  of  a  small  tree  on  the  road 
side,  then  he  seemed  to  be  striking  blows  at  an 
invisible  enemy,  ran  to  the  ditch  and  began  throw- 
ing lump  after  lump  of  hard  mud  into  the  tree.  I 
had  not  seen  this  phase  of  his  peculiarities  before 
and  could  not  make  it  out,  but  suddenly  his  arms 
went  about  his  head  like  the  sails  of  a  windmill, 
and  I  realised  that  his  enemies  were  bees  or  hornets, 
and  that  he  was  getting  a  good  deal  the  worst  of 
an  unequal  fight.  I  sent  some  of  the  men  to  fetch 
him  back  and  found  he  had  been  rather  badly  stung, 
and  when  I  asked  him  why  he  attacked  the  nest  he 
said  his  attention  was  caught  by  things  flying  out 
of  the  tree  and  he  was  impelled  to  throw  at  them. 

I  understood  that  the  hornets  flying  out  of  the 
nest  appeared  to  be  thrown  at  him,  and  he  could 
not  help  imitating  what  he  saw  in  the  best  way  he 
could,  and  so  he  took  what  was  nearest  his  hand 
and  sent  it  flying  back. 

Kasim  the  elder  was  quite  as  susceptible  as  his 
namesake,  but  his  comrades  were  a  little  shy  of 
provoking  him  as  they  soon  realised  that  his  temper 
made  the  amusement  dangerous.  One  day  they 
must  have  been  teasing  him,  and,  when  he  was 

77 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

allowed  to  recover  his  own  will,  I  suppose  their 
laughter  made  it  evident  to  him  that  he  had  made 
himself  ridiculous,  for  he  suddenly  ran  to  the  arm- 
rack,  and  seizing  a  sword  bayonet  made  for  his 
tormentors  with  such  evident  intention  to  use  it  that 
they  precipitately  fled,  and  in  a  few  seconds  were 
making  very  good  time  across  the  swamp  with 
Kasim  and  the  drawn  sword  far  too  close  to  be 
pleasant.  I  had  some  difficulty  in  persuading  him 
to  abandon  his  purpose,  but  after  that  and  a  lecture 
his  comrades  did  not  greatly  bother  him. 

I  remember,  however,  that  on  another  occasion 
we  had  secured  and  erected  a  long  thin  spar  to 
serve  as  a  flagstaff,  but  the  halyard  jammed  and  it 
seemed  necessary  to  lower  the  spar  when  some  one 
called  out  to  Kasim  the  elder  to  climb  up  it.  Before 
I  could  interfere,  he  had  gone  up  two-thirds  of  the 
height,  and  he  only  came  down  reluctantly.  Had 
he  gone  a  few  feet  higher  the  pole  would  inevitably 
have  snapped  and  he  would  have  had  a  severe 
fall. 

About  this  time  a  friend  came  and  shared  my 
loneliness  for  a  fortnight.  He  had  had  experience 
of  Idtah  people  before,  but  the  two  Kasims  were 
rather  a  revelation,  and  he  was  perhaps  inclined  to 
doubt  what  I  told  him  they  could  be  made  to  do. 

78 


LATAH 

One  morning  we  were  bathing  as  usual  at  the  pond, 
and  Kasim  the  younger  was  in  attendance  carrying 
the  towels,  &c. 

The  bath  was  over,  and  we  were  all  three  stand- 
ing on  the  bank,  when  my  friend  said  to  Kasim  : 

"  Mart,  kita  terjun "  (come,  let  us  jump  in),  at 
the  same  time  feigning  to  jump.  Kasim  instantly 
jumped  into  the  pond,  disappeared,  came  up  splut- 
tering, and  having  scrambled  out,  said  :  "  Itu  tidak 
baik,  Tuan  "  (that  is  not  good  of  you,  sir). 

My  friend  said,  "  Why,  I  did  nothing,  I  only  said 
let  us  jump  in  and  went  like  this,"  repeating  his 
previous  action,  when  Kasim  immediately  repeated 
his  plunge,  and  we  dragged  him  from  the  water 
looking  like  a  retriever. 

When  I  was  first  ordered  to  Selangor,  I  thought 
it  possible  that  some  sort  of  furniture  might  be 
useful,  and  I  took  up  a  few  chairs  and  other  things, 
including  a  large  roll  of  what  is  known  as  Calcutta 
matting.  The  things  were  useless  in  a  place  where 
the  mud  floor  was  often  under  water  twice  during 
twenty-four  hours,  and  they  lay  piled  in  a  corner  of 
the  stockade,  and  whenever  a  Malay  of  distinction 
came  to  see  me  for  whom  it  was  necessary  to  find  a 
chair,  it  was  advisable  to  see  that  the  seat  was  not 
already  occupied  by  a  snake.  The  roll  of  matting, 

79 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

about  four  feet  high  and  two-and-a-half  feet  in 
diameter  naturally  remained  unopened. 

Every  night,  owing  to  the  myriads  of  mosquitoes, 
a  large  bonfire  was  lit  in  the  middle  of  the  stockade, 
for  only  in  the  smoke  of  that  fire  was  it  possible  to 
eat  one's  dinner.  One  night  some  Malays  from  the 
village  had  come  in,  and  the  police  were  trying  to 
amuse  them  and  forget  their  own  miseries  by  danc- 
ing and  singing  round  the  fire.  Under  such  circum- 
stances Malays  have  a  happy  knack  of  making  the 
best  of  things,  they  laugh  easily  and  often,  and  as  I 
have  said  elsewhere,  they  have  a  strong  sense  of 
humour  if  not  always  of  a  very  refined  description. 
Some  one  had  introduced  one  of  the  Kasims,  in  his 
character  of  an  orang  Idtah^  for  the  benefit  of  the 
strangers,  and  one  of  the  men  was  inspired  to  fetch 
the  roll  of  matting,  and  solemnly  presenting  it  to 
Kasim  the  younger,  said,  "Kasim,  here  is  your 
wife." 

Even  now  I  do  not  forget  the  smile  of  beatitude 
and  satisfaction  with  which  Kasim  Minor  regarded 
that  undesirable  and  figureless  bundle.  Breathing  the 
words  in  a  low  voice,  almost  sighing  to  himself, 
11  Kasim,  here  is  your  wife,"  he  embraced  the 
matting  with  great  fervour,  constantly  repeating 

"  My  wife  !    my  wife  !  "     Some  one  said,    "  Kiss 

80 


LATAH 

her ! "  and  he  kissed  her — repeatedly  kissed  her.. 
Then  by  another  inspiration  (I  do  not  say  from 
whence),  some  one  brought  up  the  other  Kasim, 
and  introducing  him  to  the  other  side  of  the  roll' 
of  matting,  said,  also  very  quietly,  "  Kasim,  this 
is  your  wife  ! "  and  Kasim  the  elder  accepted 
the  providential  appearance  of  his  greatly-desired 
spouse,  and  embraced  her  with  not  less  fervour 
than  his  namesake  and  rival. 

It  was  evident  that  neither  intended  to  give  up 
the  lady  to  the  other,  and  as  each  tried  to  monopolise 
her  charms  a  struggle  began  between  them  to  obtain 
complete  possession,  during  which  the  audience, 
almost  frantic  with  delight,  urged  the  actors  in  this 
drama  to  manifest  their  affection  to  the  lady  of  their 
choice.  In  the  midst  of  this  clamour  the  Kasims 
and  their  joint  spouse  fell  down,  and  as  they  nearly 
rolled  into  the  fire  and  seemed  disinclined  even 
then  to  abandon  the  lady,  she  was  taken  away 
and  put  back  in  her  corner  with  the  chairs  and 
snakes. 

It  is  a  detail,  which  I  only  add  because  some 
readers  hunger  for  detail,  that  neither  of  the  Kasims 
possessed  a  wife. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  offer  any  explanation  of  the 
cause  of  this  state  of  mind  which  Malays  call  Idtah. 

8 1  F 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

I  imagine  it  is  a  nervous  disease  affecting  the  brain 
but  not  the  body. 

I  have  never  met  a  medical  man  who  has  in- 
terested himself  in  the  matter,  and  I  cannot  say 
whether  the  disease,  if  it  be  one,  is  curable  or  not — 
I  should  doubt  it. 

I  have  somewhere  read  that  individuals  similarly 
affected  are  found  amongst  the  Canadian  lumber- 
men. 


82 


X 
THE    ETERNAL   FEMININE 

Le  bonheur  de  saigner  sur    le    coeur 
d'un  ami 

PAUL  VERLAINI 

THERE  was  a  woman  of  Kelantan  named  Siti 
Maamih  ;  she  was  born  of  the  people,  neither 
good  nor  beautiful,  nor  attractive,  nor  even  young, 
as  youth  goes  in  the  East,  but  she  had  chosen  to 
ally  herself  to  a  white  man  whom  I  will  call  Grant. 
I  know  nothing  of  these  two,  but  that  he  had 
work  far  away  in  a  Malay  jungle  and  she  shared 
his  loneliness,  herself  a  stranger  in  that  country. 
It  was  apparently  an  arrangement  formed  for  mutual 
advantage,  like  many  others  of  a  more  permanent 
character.  If  the  connection  began  without  any 
semblance  of  romance,  it  more  than  satisfied  the 
expectations  of  the  contracting  parties,  and  when 
the  moment  of  trial  came  the  highest  affection  and 
the  most  sacred  bond  could  hardly  have  suggested 
a  greater  sacrifice  than  this  woman  offered. 

83 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

Whilst  these  two  were  living  their  unattractive 
lives  there  came  difficulties  between  white  man  and 
brown — not  specially  between  this  white  man  and 
any  with  a  darker  skin  :  the  quarrel  was  between 
white  authority  and  Malay  resentment  of  inter- 
ference. Grant  was  not  even  remotely  connected 
with  the  matter,  but  he  was  white,  and  under  such 
circumstances  a  want  of  discrimination  is  not  un- 
common. There  followed  what  is  known  as  "  a 
state  of  reprisals."  Uncivilised  people,  who  do  not 
understand  fine  distinctions  in  such  matters,  called  it 
war.  The  disturbance  was,  however,  comparatively 
local,  Grant's  immediate  neighbourhood  did  not  seem 
affected,  and  he  was  probably  unconcerned.  There- 
fore he  went  about  his  work  and  took  no  special 
precaution,  fearing  no  attack. 

But  his  hut  was  isolated,  there  was  only  one 
other  white  man  anywhere  near  him,  no  police 
within  miles,  and  Maamih,  who  understood  Malays 
better  than  her  protector,  was  on  the  watch  for 
trouble. 

To  expect  is,  sometimes,  to  go  half  way  to  meet, 
and  the  trouble  came  quickly. 

One  morning  two  Malays  appeared  at  Grant's 
house,  and,  having  given  some  trivial  excuse  for 
their  presence  and  looked  about  the  premises,  took 

84 


THE  ETERNAL   FEMININE 

their  departure.  There  was  nothing  unusual  in 
that,  and  only  a  very  nervous  person  would  have 
seen  in  so  simple  an  event  any  cause  for  alarm. 
But  even  ere  this,  prudence  would  have  told  most 
white  men  under  similar  circumstances  that  it  would 
be  well  to  see  to  their  arms  and  keep  them  handy. 
Grant,  however,  took  no  precautions,  as  he  had  pro- 
bably convinced  himself  that  none  were  necessary  ; 
as  for  arms,  he  does  not  appear  to  have  had  any. 

That  morning,  or  it  may  have  been  the  evening 
before,  three  large  boats  and  two  small  ones  arrived 
in  the  river  close  by,  but  kept  out  of  sight  of  Grant's 
hut,  and  he  probably  did  not  know  they  were  there. 
They  belonged  to  a  minor  chief  who  had  no  con- 
nection with  the  Malays  then  in  arms. 

The  day  wore  on,  Grant  had  been  out  all  morn- 
ing looking  after  his  work,  he  had  returned  to 
breakfast,  been  out  again,  and  now  he  was  back  and 
had  thrown  himself  down  to  rest,  glad  to  get  under 
shelter  from  the  oppressive  heat.  He  was  a  busy 
man  and  his  work  took  him  out  of  doors,  but  though 
he  had  been  about  all  day  he  had  seen  and  heard 
nothing  to  arouse  his  suspicions. 

Seen  nothing,  certainly.  That  was  not  strange, 
it  was  a  jungly  place,  and  to  be  ten  yards  off  in  the 
jungle  is  as  good,  for  those  who  seek  concealment 

85 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

and  know  the  jungle,  as  to  be  in  another  district. 
As  for  hearing  anything,  that  too  was  most  unlikely  : 
the  only  people  he  could  hear  from  were  Malays,  the 
only  means  of  communication  the  Malay  language,  of 
which  Grant  knew  very  little,  and  the  only  condition 
on  which  information  is  to  be  obtained  from  Malays 
about  Malays  would  be  an  intimacy  with  and  respect 
for  the  threatened  man  to  which  Grant  could  hardly 
aspire.  There  must  be  some  very  powerful  influence 
at  work  to  induce  a  Muhammadan,  who  is  not  per- 
sonally in  danger,  to  tell  a  Christian  that  there  is 
a  Muhammadan  plot  against  his  life.  Grant,  at  any 
rate,  if  he  thought  about  it  at  all,  could  hardly 
expect  that  he,  a  new-comer,  possessed  friends  who 
would  do  so  much  for  him. 

He  was  still  resting  when,  about  4  P.M.,  a  party 
of  nearly  twenty  armed  men  suddenly  appeared  in 
front  of  the  house  and  stood  some  fifty  yards  away, 
while  two  of  them,  carrying  only  the  ordinary  jungle 
knives,  came  up  to  the  house  and  asked  Grant  if  he 
wanted  to  buy  fowls.  He  told  the  inquirers  to  take 
them  to  his  servant,  and  got  up  as  the  Malays  left  him. 

The  men  had  no  fowls,  and  instead  of  going  to 
the  servant's  quarters  they  rejoined  their  companions, 
and  the  whole  body  advanced  towards  the  house. 

At  this  moment  MaSmih  appeared,  and  instantly 
86 


THE   ETERNAL   FEMININE 

divining  that  the  strangers  meant  no  good,  she 
screamed  out,  "They  are  going  to  murder  us." 
But  Grant  said  that  he  and  she  had  done  no  harm 
and  the  Malays  could  mean  none,  and,  taking  the 
woman  with  him,  he  went  out  of  the  house  and  a 
few  steps  forward  to  meet  his  assailants. 

These  last  stopped  some  twenty  yards  from  Grant 
and  the  woman,  and  she  said,  "What  harm  have 
we  done  ?  "  The  answer  was  "  Titah  " — it  is  by 
order  of  the  Raja — and  they  told  the  woman  to 
leave  the  infidel  and  go  away.  But  she  replied, 
"  I  shall  stay  with  him." 

Then  several  men  said,  "  If  you  do  not  go,  we 
will  kill  you  as  well  as  the  white  man." 

Grant  may  not  have  understood  this  sentence  of 
death  on  himself,  he  may  not  have  realised  how 
strangely  the  times  were  out  of  joint,  that  he  who 
was  the  enemy  of  no  man,  who  had  done  no  wrong, 
who  represented  no  cause,  should  suddenly,  in  the 
broad  light  of  day,  hear  his  own  death  sentence,  and 
in  the  same  breath  learn  that  he  was  facing  his 
executioners  and  his  account  with  the  world  was 
closed.  There  was  no  time  to  think  :  instinct  said, 
"  There  is  Death,"  and  doubtless  instinct  also  said, 
"  Death  is  disagreeable  :  shun  it." 

It  is  commonly  reputed  that  there  are  people  who- 
87 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

•do  not  know  what  fear  is ;  to  them  in  such  a  situa- 
tion instinct  no  doubt  suggests  that  death  is  a  new 
and  pleasant  experience.  With  this  man  it  was 
different ;  as  he  saw  here  and  there  a  gun  raised 
and  pointed  at  him  from  a  distance  of  a  few  paces, 
he  probably  felt  the  fear  of  sudden  and  violent 
death,  and  if  he  was  in  any  way  responsible  for 
what  he  did  in  that  supreme  moment  his  thought 
must  have  suggested  that  these  men  would  not 
harm  a  woman  of  their  own  nationality  and  religion, 
for  he  took  her  in  his  arms. 

A  shot  was  fired,  and  the  bullet  shattered  Maamih's 
left  arm.  Then,  seeing  what  had  happened,  Grant 
put  her  behind  him  and  two  more  shots  were  fired, 
one  of  which  struck  Grant  in  the  breast,  and  saying, 
"They  have  killed  me,"  he  fell  on  his  face  to  the 
ground. 

A  Malay  rushed  up  with  a  heavy  chopping  knife, 
but  the  woman  threw  herself  on  the  body  and  put 
her  unwounded  arm  over  Grant's  neck  to  save  him. 
The  Malay's  first  blow  inflicted  a  deep  wound  on 
Maamih's  arm  and  made  her  loose  her  hold ;  the 
man  then  struck  Grant  a  heavy  blow  on  the  back  of 
the  neck,  but  he  was  already  dead. 

The  murderers  took  no  further  notice  of  the 
woman,  except  to  try  and  rob  her  of  the  jewellery 

88 


THE   ETERNAL   FEMININE 

she  wore,  but  they  plundered  the  house,  and  having 
decapitated  the  dead  man  and  otherwise  mutilated 
his  body,  they  threw  the  remains  into  the  river  and 
departed. 

The  woman  was  cared  for  by  a  countryman  of 
her  own  until  she  could  be  removed  to  a  hospital, 
where,  after  weeks  of  suffering,  she  recovered  from 
her  injuries. 

The  motive  of  this  outrage  was  simply  the  desire 
of  an  individual  and  his  small  following  to  wipe  out 
the  white  man,  and  as  Grant's  isolated  position  made 
him  a  specially  easy  prey,  he  fell  a  victim.  His 
only  European  neighbour  was  also  murdered  by  the 
same  band.  I  know  of  no  similar  attack  being  made 
by  Malays  on  a  white  man  within  modern  times, 
and  I  question  whether  there  is  such  another  instance 
of  a  Malay  woman's  devotion — not  that  they  are 
not  capable  of  such  self-sacrifice,  I  think  they  are, 
but  the  circumstances  necessary  to  call  it  forth  very 
seldom  arise. 

This  woman  realised  what  was  going  to  happen 
before  she  left  the  shelter  of  the  house,  she  had 
time  after  that  to  think,  her  life  was  not  sought,  she 
was  told  to  go  away  and  warned  that  if  she  did  not 
separate  herself  from  the  white  man  she  would  share 
his  fate.  Moreover,  she  knew  that  no  sacrifice  of 

89 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

hers  could  save  him,  and  more  than  all,  as  affecting 
her  woman's  nerves,  she  saw  face  to  face  the  men 
with  murder  in  their  faces  and  the  means  to  accom- 
plish it  in  their  hands. 

The  motive  which  kept  Maamih  by  Grant's  side 
and  which  led  her,  after  receiving  the  first  shot,  to 
interpose  herself  between  his  body  and  the  weapons 
of  his  foes,  must  have  been  as  high  as  it  was 
powerful.  Just  as  there  was  nothing  to  fear  by 
standing  aside  (for  none  would  have  blamed  her),  so 
there  was  nothing  to  hope  from  the  forbearance  of 
Grant's  murderers,  and  that  she  did  not  also  lose 
her  life  by  her  devotion  to  him  was  the  accident  of 
an  ill- directed  shot  and  a  well-aimed  blow  which 
sought  to  sever  the  woman's  arm  and  reach  the  neck 
it  protected — the  neck  of  a  dead  man. 

United  to  the  devotion  which  deemed  no  sacrifice 
too  great  for  one  she  loved,  was  that  other  sort  of 
courage  which  comes  of  knowledge  and  deliberate 
intention.  No  one  can  fail  to  admire  the  pluck 
which  takes  no  thought  of  danger,  the  instinct  which 
impels  a  wild  beast  to  charge  an  enemy  and  pro- 
bably achieve  thereby  its  own  destruction.  Even 
then  it  can  hardly  be  said  that  the  sensation  of  fear 
has  never  been  and  cannot  be  experienced  by  the 

most  formidable  and  gallant  denizens  of  the  forest 

90 


THE   ETERNAL   FEMININE 

and  the  desert.  All  sportsmen  know  the  contrary, 
and  a  child  has  put  a  tiger  to  flight  by  suddenly 
throwing  a  basket  in  the  face  of  the  beast.  Had  the 
child  run  away,  its  death  was  probable,  whereas  it 
saved  the  life  of  an  old  man  already  in  the  tiger's 
clutches,  and  yet  the  child's  action  was  not  the 
result  of  courage  but  of  fear. 

This  Malay  woman,  in  whom  the  love  of  life  was 
strong,  and  on  whose  nerves  the  horror  and  certainty 
of  what  awaited  her  must  have  had  a  terrifying  effect, 
deliberately  renounced  safety,  with  that  higher  re- 
solve which,  vanquishing  fear,  faces  the  unknown  in 
the  spirit  described  by  the  Persian  who,  writing 
eight  centuries  ago,  has  found  so  worthy  an  inter- 
preter in  the  author  of  the  lines — 

"  So  when  the  Angel  of  the  darker  Drink 
At  last  shall  find  you  by  the  river  brink 
And,  offering  his  Cup,  invite  your  Soul, 
Forth  to  your  Lips  to  quaff — 

You  shall  not  shrink." 


XI 
IN   THE    NOON   OF   NIGHT 

Her  soul  upheld 
By  some  deep-working  charm 

KIRKE  WHITE 

ON  the  western  coast  of  the  Peninsula,  more 
especially  that  part  of  it  which  forms  one  side 
of  the  Straits  of  Malacca,  the  shore-line  is  generally 
one  long  stretch  of  mud,  covered  with  mangrove 
trees  to  the  verge  of  high-water  mark  and  rather 
further,  for  when  the  tide  is  up  there  are  thousands 
of  acres  of  mangrove  whose  roots  and  several  inches 
of  the  stems  are  submerged.  Beyond  this  forest  the 
receding  tide  leaves  great  wastes  of  evil-smelling 
mire,  soft  and  clinging,  in  which  the  searcher  for 
shell-fish  sinks  almost  to  his  waist. 

Many  rivers,  small  and  great,  find  their  way  to 
the  sea  through  this  wide  flat.  At  high  water  they 
look  imposing  enough,  but  when  the  tide  is  out  a 

narrow  and  shallow  channel  is  left  winding  about 

92 


IN   THE   NOON   OF   NIGHT 

between  low  slimy  banks,  and  right  and  left  the  eye 
wanders  over  a  desolation  of  glistening  mud  with  an 
almost  imperceptible  slope  to  the  edge  of  the  distant 
sea. 

Pools  of  shallow  water  and  tiny  channels,  through 
which  the  receding  tide  finds  easier  road  to  river 
or  sea,  alone  break  the  monotony  of  the  unsightly 
waste. 

That  is  as  far  as  physical  features  go.  The 
mud-flats  have  their  denizens,  but  they  are  not  over- 
attractive. 

First,  there  is  the  Malay  fisherman,  hunting  for 
mussels  and  other  shell-fish.  If  he  is  there  at  all 
he  will  be  hard  to  see,  for  he  pushes  his  little  dug- 
out fifty  or  a  hundred  yards  up  a  mud  creek,  leaves 
it  and  fossicks  about,  sunk  above  his  knees  in  the 
mire. 

Then  there  are  myriads  of  birds,  attracted  by  the 
great  possibilities  of  gain  to  the  industrious  searcher 
after  garbage,  stranded  fish,  and  all  sorts  of  particu- 
larly loathsome-looking  and  foul-smelling  dead  things 
to  be  found  in  such  a  place.  These  birds  are  often 
strange-looking  creatures,  vast  of  size,  long  and  lank 
of  leg,  snaky  of  neck  and  spiky  of  bill.  But  they 
are  wary  to  a  degree,  they  always  seems  to  be  stand- 
ing just  in  the  tiny  ripple  of  the  smallest  wavelets 

93 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

where  you  instinctively  know  the  mud  and  sea  meet, 
and  there  they  watch  the  gradually  receding  tide 
with  melancholy  abstraction,  as  though  they  took  no 
real  interest  in  the  daily  toil  of  sustaining  life. 

Last,  there  is  something  else  here,  and,  if  you  are 
not  quite  a  stranger,  you  will  look  first,  look  longest, 
and  look  always  for  this  other  thing.  Perhaps  it  is 
the  extraordinary  fitness  of  her  surroundings  (I  say 
her  advisedly),  perhaps  the  art  with  which  nature 
has  designed  the  body  of  the  saurian  to  make  you 
think  her  a  log,  or  a  stranded  palm-branch,  a  half- 
buried  spar  of  a  wrecked  boat,  or  even  a  lighter  or 
darker  ridge  of  the  surrounding  mud — certain  it  is 
that  as  the  crocodile  lies  there,  basking  in  the  sun 
which  makes  air  and  water  and  blistering  slime 
shimmer  and  dance  before  your  eyes,  you  will  not 
notice  the  creature,  nay,  even  when  pointed  out  to 
you,  it  is  ten  to  one  that  you  will  not  even  then 
realise  that  she  is  there. 

But  get  nearer,  speak  no  word  and  let  your  rowers 
pull  a  long  and  noiseless  stroke  till  some  one  with  a 
quick  eye  and  a  steady  hand  can  put  a  bullet  in  the 
reptile's  neck.  As  that  great  mouth  suddenly  opens, 
disclosing  the  rows  of  shining  teeth,  as  it  shuts 
again  with  the  noise  of  a  steel  trap,  as  the  horrible 
scaly  claws  dig  deep  into  the  mud  in  their  agony  and 

94 


IN   THE   NOON   OF   NIGHT 

the  great  spiked  tail  lashes  round  in  fury,  as  the 
loathsome  yellow  belly  slides  over  the  ooze  and  you 
catch  sight  of  the  stony  cruelty  of  the  crocodile's 
eye,  then  you  will  realise  what  manner  of  thing  she 
is,  and  you  will  probably  conceive  for  her  and  all 
her  kind  a  deadly  horror  and  loathing,  and  a  con- 
suming desire  to  slay  the  whole  brood  will  seize  you 
then  and  remain  with  you  for  all  time. 

If  it  should  happen  to  you  to  have  to  fight  a 
wounded  crocodile  at  close  quarters,  if  accident 
brings  you  in  contact  with  a  man  who  has  just  lost 
arm  or  leg,  or  with  a  corpse  out  of  which  a  crocodile 
has  torn  the  life,  your  feelings  towards  these  river- 
murderers  will  not  be  softened. 

There  are  Malay  rivers  so  infested  by  these 
reptiles  that  at  low  water  for  a  mile  or  two  from  the 
river's  mouth  they  will  be  seen,  in  twos  and  threes 
or  larger  groups,  lying  on  either  bank  basking  or 
sleeping  in  the  sun.  It  repeatedly  happens  that 
they  knock  people  out  of  their  boats  and  then  kill 
and  devour  them,  and  in  places  where  the  creatures 
are  specially  numerous,  if  a  crocodile  is  shot  dead  on 
the  bank,  in  less  than  half  an  hour  the  carcase  will 
be  dragged  into  the  river  and  a  crowd  of  the  reptiles 
will  be  tearing  it  in  pieces  and  fighting  for  the 
remains. 

95 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

Villages  on  the  Malay  coast  are  nearly  always 
situated  on  the  bank  of  a  river  ;  the  sea  is  full 
of  fish  and  the  men  of  a  coast  village  are  mostly 
fishermen.  If  the  village  is  of  any  size  and  the 
industry  of  any  importance,  the  catching  of  fish  is 
supplemented  by  curing — that  is,  salting  and  drying 
them. 

The  whereabouts  of  a  village  of  this  kind  may  be 
recognised  by  the  traveller  on  sea  or  land  when  he 
is  yet  a  great  way  off.  Probably  for  that  reason, 
and  because  the  cleaning  of  thousands  of  fish  loads 
the  water  with  food  of  a  kind  that  is  specially 
attractive  to  the  saurian,  the  immediate  neighbour- 
hood of  a  fishing  village  is  the  favourite  resort  of 
the  crocodile. 

At  the  mouth  of  a  wide  river  on  the  Perak  coast 
there  is  just  such  a  village.  It  is  thriving,  and  as 
there  are  a  number  of  Chinese  as  well  as  Malay 
fishermen,  it  boasts  a  police-station.  The  houses 
are  built  for  the  most  part  on  piles ;  at  high  water 
the  sea  washes  under  them,  and  the  means  of  inter- 
communication are  wooden  stagings  from  house  to 
house.  At  low  water  there  is  mud,  great  stretches 
of  mud,  running  from  the  edge  of  the  mangrove 
swamp  which  backs  the  village  far  out  to  the  west 
and  the  waters  of  the  Straits  of  Malacca. 

96 


IN   THE   NOON   OF   NIGHT 

It  was  in  the  month  of  Ramthan,  when  begin 
those  forty  days  of  fast  observed  by  all  good 
Muhammadans — though  so  few  of  them  know  why 
they  fast,  or  the  details  of  the  touching  story  which 
tells  the  sufferings  of  the  Martyrs  of  Kerbela — that 
one  night,  past  the  middle  of  the  month,  but  when 
the  moon  still  lit  up  the  water  and  made  things  plain 
as  day,  a  strange  thing  happened  at  this  small  coast 
village. 

In  it  there  lived  a  Malay  revenue  officer  with  his 
wife  and  child,  and  on  the  night  in  question  these 
three,  being  at  home,  went  to  sleep  about  10  P.M. 
as  was  their  wont. 

A  slight  breeze  was  blowing  off  the  sea,  blowing 
against  the  falling  tide,  and  the  moonlight  glorified 
the  hideous  expanse  of  slime  till  it  looked  like  a 
limitless  mirror,  blending  far  away  with  the  haze- 
enshrouded  waters  of  the  sea,  but  bordered  land- 
wards by  that  dark  fringe  of  mangroves,  the  thick 
forest  forming  a  striking  contrast  to  the  moonlit 
beauty  of  the  glistening  shore. 

The  wind  sighed  up  the  river,  played  through  the 
great  brown  nets  hanging  up  to  dry,  and,  scarcely 
stirring  the  tops  of  the  mangroves,  swept  gently 
towards  the  distant  hills. 

All  the  village  slept,  except  the  one  Guardian  of 
97  G 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

the    Peace,  who   showed  his   devotion  to  duty  by 
punctually  striking  the  hours  on  a  huge  metal  gong. 

The  night  was  far  advanced,  when  suddenly  he 
heard  a  child  crying  in  the  house  of  the  Malay 
revenue  clerk.  Then  there  was  the  noise  of  foot- 
steps and  the  voice  of  the  man  calling  to  his  wife, 
but  no  answer.  After  a  few  minutes  there  was  the 
sound  of  approaching  feet,  a  shout  from  the  Malay, 
followed  by  the  man  himself. 

The  constable  called  out,  "  What  is  the  matter, 
Che  Mat  ?  " 

Che  Mat  replied,  "  I  was  asleep,  but  awoke  hear- 
ing the  child  crying  for  its  mother.  I  could  not  see 
her  anywhere,  and  she  did  not  answer  when  I  spoke. 
Then  1  got  up  and  saw  at  once  the  door  of  the 
house  was  open,  but  she  is  nowhere  to  be  seen. 
Have  you  heard  anything  of  her  ?  " 

The  constable  had  heard  nothing,  but  there  was 
evidently  something  uncanny  about  this  disappear- 
ance, for,  in  a  village  such  as  this,  where  the  houses 
are  more  in  the  water  than  on  land,  where  the  path- 
less mangrove  is  the  background,  and  the  waters  of 
the  river  the  foreground,  there  are  few  places  left  in 
which  to  look  for  any  one  or  anything  with  any 
chance  of  finding  them. 

The  man  on  guard  roused  his  comrades,  and,  as 
98 


IN   THE   NOON   OF   NIGHT 

Malays  do  not  sit  down  and  discuss  plans  of  action, 
some  one  at  once  made  a  move  ;  the  others  followed, 
and  they  all  walked  out  to  the  last  house  on  the 
platform,  and  then  listened. 

"  Hark  !  did  you  not  hear  something  ?  "  Yes, 
through  the  silence  of  the  night,  wafted  on  the 
incoming  breeze,  there  was  a  distinct  but  faint  cry 
from  the  direction  of  the  sea. 

It  did  not  take  the  men  long  to  get  down  to  the 
ground,  and  first  hurrying  along  the  edge  of  the 
trees,  they  went  some  distance,  hearing  the  cries  at 
intervals  and  ever  more  plainly,  till  it  became 
necessary  to  strike  right  out  across  the  mud.  By 
this  time  there  was  no  doubt  about  the  source  of 
the  cries,  for  the  voice  of  the  object  of  their  search 
was  recognised,  and  that  the  woman  was  in  sore 
distress  did  not  admit  of  doubt.  Making  all  the 
speed  they  could,  sinking  above  their  knees  at  every 
step,  stumbling,  falling,  but  ever  pressing  on,  they 
saw  at  last  to  their  horror,  in  the  brilliant  moon- 
light, the  woman  on  the  ground  being  literally 
worried  by  three  crocodiles,  each  six  or  eight  feet 
in  length. 

As  crocodiles  go,  six  or  eight  feet  is  no  great 
length,  but  to  go  to  sleep  in  your  own  house  and 
wake  up  at  midnight  within  a  hundred  feet  of  the 

99 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

sea,  but  with  half  a  mile  of  mud  between  you 
and  anything  like  dry  land,  and  at  the  same  time 
assailed  by  three  crocodiles  quite  big  enough  to  kill 
you,  is  calculated  to  shock  the  strongest  nerves. 

After  a  short  but  exciting  fight,  the  police  beat 
off  the  scaly  beasts  with  difficulty,  and  found  the 
woman  had  been  badly  torn  in  legs,  and  arms,  and 
neck. 

Whilst  the  men  were  arranging  to  carry  her  back, 
no  easy  matter  over  half  a  mile  of  soft  but  sticky 
wet  mud  and  ooze,  she  told  her  tale  : 

"  I  was  sleeping,"  she  said,  "  and  had  a  vision. 
Two  radiant  Beings  appeared  to  me  and  bid  me 
rise  and  follow  them,  and  they  would  show  me  a 
sight  more  glorious  than  is  vouchsafed  to  mortals. 
Transported  with  joy,  I  rose  and  followed  them,  and 
whilst  filled  with  ecstatic  rapture  by  the  companion- 
ship of  these  Celestial  Beings,  I  seemed  to  be  borne 
along  without  effort  of  my  own  through  enchanted 
fields  of  more  than  earthly  beauty.  Suddenly  I  was 
awakened  by  feeling  the  teeth  of  a  crocodile  in  my 
leg,  and,  to  my  horror,  I  found  I  was  out  here  on 
this  mud-flat  half  a  mile  from  home,  but  close  to  the 
sea,  with  three  crocodiles  attacking  me,  no  means  of 
defending  myself,  and  little  hope  of  help.  I  fell,  and 
the  beasts  tore  and  worried  me,  biting  my  arms,  and 

100 


IN   THE   NOON   OF   NIGHT 

legs,  and  neck,  while  I  screamed  for  help  until  you 
came  and  rescued  me." 

Well,  after  all,  there  is  nothing  very  strange  in 
that.  A  woman  of  peculiar  nervous  organisation,  a 
somnambulist,  dreams  a  dream  and  walks  out  into 
the  balmy  atmosphere  of  a  moonlit  Eastern  night. 
She  walks  rather  far,  and  has  a  rude  awakening. 
That  is  nothing  ;  other  sleepers  have  walked  further, 
and  their  awakening  has  been  to  the  life  beyond  the 
grave. 

Only  this  was  curious  :  that  while  the  men  sank 
deep  into  the  mud  at  every  step,  the  woman  had 
never  sunk  in  at  all.  When  found,  there  was  only 
mud  on  the  soles  of  her  feet,  and,  though  she  had 
walked  half  a  mile  across  the  flat,  and  her  tracks 
were  plainly  visible  in  the  moonlight,  they  were  all 
on  the  surface,  and  she  had  crossed  the  soft,  unstable 
mire  as  easily  as  though  it  had  been  a  metalled  road. 

So  the  men  bore  her  home,  not  wondering  over- 
much, for  in  this  thing  they  saw  the  hand  of  the 
Celestial  Beings  who  guided  her  feet  with  such 
consideration,  to  abandon  her  to  the  ferocious 
attentions  of  the  crocodiles. 

The  woman  herself,  her  husband,  and  the  police 
were  satisfied  as  to  the  means,  but  found  the  end 

too  hard  for  their  understanding, 

101 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

The  ideal  woman,  the  product  of  higher  educa- 
tion and  deep  research  in  divers  subjects,  supplies 
the  real  clue  to  the  phenomenon,  for,  when  asked 
"  where  the  true  Spirit  of  God  is,"  she  modestly 
replies,  "  I  can  tell  you :  it  is  in  us  women.  We 
have  preserved  it  and  handed  it  down  from  one 
generation  to  another  of  our  own  sex  unsullied."* 

Doubtless — from  the  time  when  the  Spirit  moved 
upon  the  face  of  the  waters,  and,  later,  on  the  Sea 
of  Galilee;  but  it  is  more  difficult  to  understand  how 
woman,  unaided,  has  handed  anything  down  from 
one  generation  to  another. 

The  same  idea  is,  however,  more  happily  con- 
veyed in  the  injunction  of  the  President  of  the 
Scraggsville  Woman's  Suffrage  League  to  her 
husband,  when  ordering  him  to  go  and  purchase  a 
divided  skirt.  "If  you  are  afraid,  pray  to  God  for 
courage  ;  She  will  help  you." 

The  mere  male  has  his  uses,  one  of  which  is  to 
assist  the  unsullied  sex  to  perpetuate  the  Spirit  of 
God,  and  another  to  be  within  hail  when  there  are 
crocodiles  about. 

*  "The  Heavenly  Twins,"  book  iii.,  chap.  iii. 


102 


XII 
VAN   HAGEN   AND   CAVALIERO 

How  loved,  how  honoured  once,  avails 

thee  not, 

To  whom  related,  or  by  whom  begot, 
A  heap  of  dust  alone  remains  of  thee 
POPE 

NOT  many  months  after  my  first  arrival  in  the 
East  I  met,  in  a  club  in  Singapore,  an 
Italian  called  Cavaliero.  He  was  quite  young,  tall, 
dark,  and  good-looking,  of  a  pronounced  Italian 
type.  What  his  occupation  was  I  have  no  idea  ;  I 
suppose  he  had  some  sort  of  business,  but  it  could 
not  have  been  very  attractive  or  profitable,  for  one 
day  I  was  told  that  he  and  a  Hollander  named 
Van  Hagen  had  collected  about  a  hundred  natives 
of  all  sorts  and  conditions  and  had  accepted  service 
with  the  Viceroy  of  the  Sultan  of  Selangor. 

Selangor  was  then  an  absolutely  independent 
Malay  State,  so  independent  in  fact  that  the  principal 
and  almost  only  employment  of  its  inhabitants  was 

fighting. 

103 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

The  Sultan  was  and  is  an  old  gentleman  for 
whom  I  have  the  highest  regard,  and  I  desire  to 
speak  of  him  with  the  greatest  respect.  He  had 
had  his  own  fighting  day  and  was  tired  of  it,  he 
wished  to  be  left  alone,  that  was  all ;  but  he  recog- 
nised that  boys  will  be  boys,  and  if  the  young 
Selangor  Rajas  took  their  pleasure  in  this  way,  he 
was  inclined  to  regard  their  escapades  with  an  in- 
dulgent eye,  provided  they  did  not  interfere  with 
his  opium  cum  dignitate  and  his  immediate  sur- 
roundings. 

The  Sultan's  own  sons  were  very  much  interested 
in  the  guerilla  warfare  that  was  then  being  carried 
on  throughout  Selangor,  and  the  feature  of  the  dis- 
turbances was  that  every  chief  said  he  had  the 
Sultan's  approval  of  his  proceedings.  Some  time 
later  I  was  myself  in  Selangor,  and,  as  this  state- 
ment was  constantly  being  dinned  into  my  ears,  I 
took  the  liberty  of  asking  his  Highness  what  it  meant. 

He  promptly  pointed  out  that  each  of  these  Rajas 
in  turn  came  to  him,  stated  his  case,  and  asked  the 
Sultan  if  that  was  not  correct.  His  Highness 
always  replied,  "  Quite  correct,"  but,  as  he  explained 
to  me,  "  benar  ka-pdda  dia,  bukan  benar  ka-pdda 
kami"  which  being  interpreted  means,  "  correct  in 

their  view,  not  in  mine."      He  was  evidently  tickled 

104 


VAN   HAGEN   AND   CAVALIERO 

by  this  happy  inspiration  and  laughed  heartily  at 
his  own  ingenuity. 

The  gossips  declared  that  his  Highness  was 
always  requested  to  give  a  tangible  proof  of  his 
approval  in  the  shape  of  gunpowder  and  lead,  and 
that  he  gave  them  to  every  applicant  with  strict 
impartiality.  On  this  point  the  Sultan  told  me 
nothing,  and  I  was  not  indiscreet  enough  to  inquire, 
but  as  Selangor  is  no  more  free  from  gossip  than  its 
neighbours,  I  put  the  statement  down  to  irrespon- 
sible chatter. 

All  this  is,  however,  by  the  way.  Certain  Rajas 
held  certain  important  strategical  points  from  which 
other  Rajas  kept  trying  to  oust  them,  and  the  fight 
waxed  hottest  about  Klang,  the  principal  port  of 
the  State,  and  Kuala  Lumpor,  the  principal  mining 
centre. 

As  to  Klang,  it  had  just  been  captured  by  a 
notable  warrior  named  Raja  Mahdi,  and  its  whilom 
defenders  driven  out  when  the  Sultan  gave  his  only 
daughter  in  marriage  to  Tunku  dia  Udin,  brother  of 
the  Sultan  of  Kedah.  The  Sultan's  son-in-law 
espoused  the  cause  of  those  who  had  been  driven 
from  Klang,  and,  as  he  was  created  Viceroy  and 
had  powerful  support  in  Singapore,  matters  were 
further  complicated. 

105 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

The  Viceroy  and  his  friends  recovered  possession 
of  Klang  and  secured  the  friendship  and  assistance 
of  the  Chinese  miners  at  Kuala  Lumpor. 

These  Chinese  were  led  by  one  Ah  Loi,  a  re- 
markable man,  styled  the  "  Capitan  China,"  whose 
instincts  were  distinctly  warlike  and  his  authority 
with  his  countrymen  supreme. 

Raja  Mahdi  also  had  friends  who  were  acting 
against  the  Chinese  in  the  interior,  and  supporters 
outside  the  State  who  helped  him  with  money, 
stores,  and  arms,  and  thus  the  ball  rolled  merrily 
along. 

Dame  Fortune  was,  as  usual,  fickle,  and  success 
was  now  with  the  Viceroy  and  now  with  Mahdi  and 
his  friends.  The  Capitan  China  did  his  share  in 
his  own  way.  He  offered  fifty  silver  dollars  for 
every  enemy's  head  delivered  in  the  market-place  in 
front  of  his  house  at  Kuala  Lumpor,  and  he  told  me 
himself  that  his  man  who  stood  there  ready  to 
receive  the  hideous  trophies  and  pay  the  money  did 
quite  a  brisk  business. 

As  with  all  Malay  war,  the  operations  languished 
and  revived  by  fits  and  starts.  Plenty  of  money 
meant  plenty  of  men,  arms,  and  ammunition,  and 
with  them  a  spasmodic  effort  would  be  made  and 
probably  a  success  gained.  Then  would  follow  dire 

106 


VAN   HAGEN   AND   CAVALIERO 

scarcity,  and  the  other  side,  having  raised  some 
money,  would  in  their  turn  gain  an  advantage. 

Thus  the  tide  of  battle  ebbed  and  flowed  for 
months  and  years,  and  the  only  plain  and  evident 
result  was  that  the  population  of  Selangor  was 
rapidly  diminishing,  the  ground  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  Kuala  Lumpor  town  being  thickly 
planted  with  corpses,  for  there  the  battle  was  always 
the  hottest,  both  because  of  the  Capitan  China's 
special  method  and  because  of  the  value  of  the 
mines.  The  survivors  on  both  sides  were  not  only 
being  reduced  to  penury,  but  their  leaders  were 
becoming  involved  in  debts  which  only  the  com- 
plete success  of  one  side  followed  by  lasting 
peace  and  order  could  enable  the  victors  to  pay 
from  the  revenues  derived  from  the  tin-mines.  The 
debts  of  the  defeated  would  naturally  be  irrecover- 
able, 

While  the  State  was  distracted  by  all  this  trouble 
the  Sultan  still  secured  a  comparative  tranquillity  by 
his  diplomatic  sympathy  with  the  combatants,  and 
whichever  side  held  the  Klang  custom-house  sup- 
plied him  with  funds.  That  was  the  price  of  his 
qualified  approval. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  Viceroy's  party,  being 
in  funds,  conceived  the  plan  of  raising  a  force  in 

107 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

Singapore  with  which  they  hoped  to  deal  an  effective 
blow  to  their  enemies. 

I  have  said  I  knew  little  of  Cavaliero,  but  of  Van 
Hagen,  who  took  command  of  the  recruits,  I  know 
less.  I  was  told  that  he  had  been  an  officer  in  the 
Netherlands  army,  and  that  he  lost  his  commission 
owing  to  some  breach  of  discipline,  but  that  he  was 
a  man  of  birth,  character,  and  courage. 

His  heterogeneous  force,  composed  of  natives  of 
half-a-dozen  nationalities,  went  by  sea  to  Klang, 
disembarked  and  made  its  way  with  guides  through 
the  jungle  to  Kuala  Lumpor.  There  they  stockaded 
themselves  on  a  hill  above  the  town  and  did  valiantly 
in  its  defence.  But  the  place  was  invested  by  the 
enemy,  supplies  were  cut  off,  and  while  the  force 
was  daily  harassed  by  the  fire  from  the  enemy's 
works,  provisions  ran  short  and  the  men  were 
threatened  at  once  with  starvation  and  the  probability 
of  being  surrounded  and  entirely  cut  off  from  their 
base  at  Klang,  twenty-five  miles  distant  by  a  jungle 
track. 

Under  these  circumstances,  and  probably  moved 
by  the  growing  discontent  of  their  men,  Van  Hagen 
and  Cavaliero  determined,  ere  it  should  be  too  late, 
to  endeavour  to  make  their  way  back  to  the  port. 

They  were  all  strangers  in  the  country,  and  they 
108 


VAN   HAGEN   AND   CAVALtERO 

could  find  no  one  to  guide  them  through  the  jungle, 
but  their  difficulties  became  so  great  that  they 
decided  to  risk  the  journey  as  a  choice  of  evils,  and 
early  one  morning  they  set  out.  „ 

I  have  elsewhere  tried  to  describe  a  Malay  jungle, 
and  the  path  which  these  men  had  to  traverse  was, 
as  I  know  from  my  own  experience,  beset  with 
peculiar  difficulty,  and  led  for  a  great  deal  of  the 
way  through  swamp  and  water,  where,  of  course, 
there  was  no  track  visible.  It  is  not  surprising  that 
the  party  lost  its  way.  Not  only  that,  but  weak 
from  want  of  food,  wanting  in  cohesion  and  discip- 
line, and  with  the  knowledge  that  they  were  seeking 
blindly  for  a  road  unknown  to  all,  a  feeling  of 
despair  overcame  many  of  them,  and  they  wandered 
off  in  different  directions  never  to  be  seen  or  heard 
of  again. 

The  main  body,  with  Van  Hagen  and  Cavaliero, 
after  a  weary  day's  march  and  no  food,  arrived  in 
the  evening,  utterly  exhausted,  at  a  place  called 
Pataling,  only  four  miles  from  Kuala  Lumpor ! 
They  had  been  walking  in  a  circle,  and  had  got 
back  to  a  point  not  far  from  that  of  their  original 
departure. 

Pataling  was  held  by  a  considerable  body  of  the 

enemy   under  two    Malay    Rajas,   and    the    weary 

109 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

wanderers  walked  straight  into  their  arms  and  gave 
themselves  up  without  a  struggle. 

Another  story  says  that,  at  the  last  moment 
before  leaving  Kuala  Lumpor,  a  guide  presented 
himself  and  offered  his  services,  which  were 
accepted ;  that  he  led  the  party  hither  and  thither 
through  the  jungle,  and  in  the  evening,  when 
thoroughly  exhausted,  took  them  into  Pataling. 

I  never  heard  rightly  what  became  of  the  rank 
and  file;  they  may  have  been  given  their  liberty 
and  told  to  find  their  own  way  out  of  the  State. 
For  the  officers  was  reserved  another  fate. 

Finding  the  principal  defenders  of  Kuala  Lumpor 
had  withdrawn,  the  place  was  occupied  without 
difficulty  by  those  who  had  for  so  long  invested  it. 
The  leading  Chinese  were  made  very  uncomfort- 
able, but  on  them  depended  the  working  of  the 
mines,  and  they  were  allowed  to  purchase  their 
lives. 

I  do  not  think  this  alternative  was  offered  to 
Van  Hagen  and  Cavaliero.  They  were  escorted 
from  Pataling  to  Kuala  Lumpor,  and,  arrived  there, 
they  were  taken  out  and  shot. 

In  excavating  for  the  foundations  of  the  houses 
which  now  form  the  town  of  Kuala  Lumpor,  it  was 
usual  to  dig  up  a  large  number  of  skeletons,  the 

no 


VAN   HAGEN  AND   CAVALIERO 

bones  of  those  who  had  fallen  during  the  years  of 
Selangor's  internecine  strife.  As  many  as  sixteen 
skeletons  have  been  discovered  in  digging  out  the 
foundations  for  one  house. 

One  day,  not  many  years  ago,  two  skeletons 
were  thus  discovered.  The  bones  were  larger,  the 
figures  taller,  than  those  usually  met  with.  They 
were  the  skeletons  of  two  men  face  to  face,  and 
locked  in  each  other's  arms. 


in 


XIII 

THE    PASSING    OF    PENGLIMA    PRANG 
SEMAUN 

Oh  vengeance  !  thou  art  sweet 

LEWIS  MORRIS 

ON  the  Perak  River,  about  fifty  miles  from  its 
mouth,  and  just  above  the  tidal  influence, 
where  the  water  is  clear  and  shallow  and  the  banks 
are  lined  with  palm  groves  and  orchards,  there  is  a 
large  Malay  village  called  Bandar. 

More  than  twenty  years  ago  there  dwelt  in  this 
village  a  man  named  Megat  Raja,  married  to  a  par- 
ticularly well-favoured  girl  named  Meriam.  The 
fact  of  her  marriage  drew  her  into  some  sort  of 
notoriety,  and  her  attractions  were  soon  the 
gossip  of  the  place.  The  gilded  youths  of  Ban- 
dar were  fired  by  the  description  of  Meriam's 
charms,  and  one  of  them,  a  boy  of  good  family, 
position,  and  means,  got  sight  of  and  fell  in  love 
with  her. 

112 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

The  husband,  Megat  Raja,  was  conveniently 
called  away  to  accompany  the  Sultan  on  a  journey 
to  Penang  and  Che  Nuh,  the  youth  aforesaid,  pro- 
fiting by  that  opportunity,  pushed  his  addresses 
with  such  fervour  and  success  that  he  became  the 
lady's  lover. 

Late  one  night  when  Che  Nuh  was  in  the  house 
of  his  mistress,  Megat  Raja  unexpectedly  returned 
and  the  first  the  lovers  knew  of  their  danger  was 
the  demand  of  the  husband  to  be  admitted.  The 
house  was  a  large  one  enclosed  by  a  palisade,  and 
Meriam  thus  suddenly  surprised,  and  fearing  instant 
death  if  her  husband  should  discover  Che  Nuh, 
implored  her  lover  to  escape  by  the  door  at  the 
back  of  the  house  while  that  at  the  front  was  being 
opened. 

Che  Nuh  complied,  but  the  husband  had  evidently 
heard  something  of  what  had  been  going  on  in  his 
absence,  and,  as  the  lover  was  about  to  descend  the 
steps,  he  drew  back  seeing  Megat  Raja  waiting  on 
the  ground  beneath  them. 

He  drew  back,  but  not  before  his  presence  had 
been  perceived. 

Megat  Raja  called  out  "Who  is  that  ?  " 

Che  Nuh  replied  «  It  is  I,  Che  Nuh." 

The  husband,  drawing  his  kris,  said  "  What  are 
113  H 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

you  doing  in  my  house  at  this  time?    Come  down  on 
to  the  ground." 

Mat  Nuh  was  alone  and  Megat  Raja  was  accom- 
panied by  two  other  men,  but  the  youth  unsheathed 
his  kris  and  went  down  ready  to  accept  the  chances 
of  a  hand-to-hand  struggle. 

Seeing  that  Mat  Nuh  would  defend  himself,  and 
knowing  that  he  was  no  contemptible  adversary,  the 
three  men  hesitated.  What  was  of  more  account  in 
their  minds  was  that  Che  Nuh  belonged  to  a 
powerful  family,  and  his  father  was  one  of  the 
principal  chiefs  in  the  country.  There  was,  there- 
fore, the  certainty  of  retaliation  should  they  kill  him, 
and  the  uncertainty  of  his  guilt,  for  Meriam  was  not 
the  only  woman  in  the  house.  As  the  men  stood 
mutually  on  the  defensive,  Megat  Raja  asked  him 
whom  he  had  come  to  see,  and  Che  Nuh  replied  that 
it  was  a  girl  in  the  house.  Thinking  to  assure  him- 
self on  this  point,  the  husband  entered  the  house 
and  questioned  one  of  the  servant-women,  but  dis- 
satisfied with  what  he  heard  he  dashed  out  again 
determined  to  attack  Che  Nuh. 

The  latter  had,  however,  taken  advantage  of 
Megat  Raja's  momentary  absence  to  get  outside  the 
gate  of  the  palisade,  and  once  there  he  shouted  for 
help  and  was  soon  surrounded  by  his  friends. 

114 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

In  reply  to  a  call,  Che  Nuh  bid  his  adversary 
come  outside  the  gate  and  he  would  give  him  any 
satisfaction  he  pleased. 

That  of  course  meant  an  internecine  struggle 
between  the  two  parties,  and  Megat  Raja  declined 
it,  for  the  odds  were  now  against  him,  and  he  was 
still  uncertain  whether  his  wife  were  unfaithful  or 
not. 

On  the  strong  suspicion  that  he  held,  his  inclina- 
tion was  to  at  least  make  short  work  of  the  woman, 
but  here  again  he  was  deterred  by  the  knowledge 
that  her  relations  would  certainly  be  revenged  on 
him.  He,  therefore,  decided  on  another  course  of 
action.  On  the  assumption  that  his  wife  was  guilty 
(and  of  this  he  became  tolerably  well  assured),  he 
treated  her  as  though  he  held  the  proofs,  divorced 
her,  turned  her  out  of  his  house,  and  declined  to  let 
her  have  any  of  her  own  possessions  or  to  remove 
any  of  his. 

This  action  was  considered  a  very  serious  indig- 
nity by  Meriam's  friends,  and  it  so  happened  that 
she  possessed  a  relative  named  Penglima  Prang 
Semaun,  an  adherent  of  the  Sultan's  Wazir,  the 
Raja  Bendahara,  and  he  was  reputed  one  of  the 
principal  warriors  in  the  country. 

Penglima  Prang  Semaun  called  upon  the  Chief  of 
"5 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

Bandar  and  laid  a  formal  complaint  against  Megat 
Raja,  demanding  to  know  why  he  had  taken  the  law 
into  his  own  hands  and  treated  Meriam  in  a  manner 
to  put  all  her  relatives  to  shame. 

The  Chief  of  the  village  of  Bandar  was  also  one 
of  the  great  officers  of  State  named  the  Orang  Kaya 
Shabandar.  He  was  a  man  renowned  for  his 
courage,  was  wealthy,  a  trusted  officer  of  the  Sultan, 
the  receiver  of  customs,  and  lived  at  the  upper  end 
of  the  village. 

He  listened  politely  to  Penglima  Prang  Semaun, 
and  when  the  latter  wound  up  his  complaint  by 
saying  he  would  certainly  attack  Megat  Raja  if  he 
obtained  no  redress,  the  Shabandar  put  his  advice 
in  the  form  of  this  ancient  saw  : 

"If  you  have  no  gold,  it  is  well  to  sing  small  ; 
if  you  have  no  pivot-guns  (jingals),  it  is  well  to  put 
a  pleasant  face  on  the  matter  ;  and  if  you  have  no 
cannon,  it  is  better  to  be  quiet." 

The  advice  was  meant  in  good  part  and  not  as  a 
taunt,  but  Penglima  Prang  Semaun  took  it  as  the 
latter  and  retired  with  rage  in  his  heart,  saying 
"  It  is  well  for  you  who  have  gold  and  jingals  and 
cannon  to  tell  me  I  have  none  of  these  things, 
but  I  will  have  my  revenge  of  you  with  only  a 
kris." 

116 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

Then  he  returned  to  his  own  home  to  think  how 
this  was  to  be  worked  out. 

The  Penglima  Prang  Semaun's  house  was  between 
those  of  the  Shabandar,  up  stream,  and  Megat  Raja, 
down  stream,  and  he  knew  that  he  was  not  strong 
enough  to  resist  a  combined  attack  from  both  of 
them.  Therefore  he  determined  that  force  must  be 
backed  by  cunning  if  he  was  to  achieve  his  end. 
He  concluded  that  his  only  plan  was  to  attack  the 
Shabandar,  dispose  of  him  first  as  the  most  im- 
portant, and  then  deal  with  Megat  Raja  at  his 
leisure. 

Meanwhile,  Che  Nuh  had  expressed  his  desire  tc 
marry  Meriam,  but  as  his  relatives  recognised  that 
such  an  open  avowal  of  his  liaison  must  lead  to 
trouble  with  Megat  Raja  and  his  folk,  they  declined 
to  allow  him  to  do  this,  and  Che  Nuh's  negative 
attitude  towards  the  lady  only  increased  the  wrath 
of  her  kinsman,  Penglima  Prang  Semaun. 

I  have  said  that  this  bravo,  for  that  was  his 
metier,  was  the  henchman  of  the  Raja  Bendahara, 
the  highest  authority  in  the  State  after  the  Sultan. 
Penglima  Prang  Semaun,  having  determined  to  kill 
the  Shabandar,  felt  it  necessary  to  report  the  inten- 
tion to  his  master  and,  mindful  of  possible  wrath  to 
come,  to  ask  his  sanction. 

117 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

Accordingly  the  Penglima  went  up  river  to  Blanja 
where  the  Bgndahara  lived,  told  his  tale  and  asked 
for  leave  to  kill  the  Shabandar. 

The  reply  of  the  Bendahara  was,  "  If  you  think 
you  are  able  to  do  it,  go  on." 

That  was  enough.  Penglima  Prang  Semaun 
returned  to  Bandar  with  a  kindred  spirit  named  Haji 
Ali,  another  bravo  of  reputation  as  evil  as  his  own, 
and  these  two  worthies  soon  settled  their  plan  of 
operations. 

The  Sultan  was  at  Pasir  Panjang  (only  a  few 
miles  above  Bandar),  with  a  large  following  and  a 
crowd  of  boats,  and  the  Penglima  and  his  friend 
determined  to  wreak  their  vengeance  on  the  Sha- 
bandar on  the  Rdya  Hdji,  the  day  to  which  the 
most  religious  Muhammadans  prolong  the  fast  of 
Ramthan. 

The  day  did  not,  however,  suit,  there  were  too 
many  people  constantly  about  the  Shabandar's 
house,  and  the  conspirators  had  to  return  home 
without  effecting  their  purpose. 

On  the  following  day,  however,  in  the  afternoon, 
Penglima  Prang  Semaun,  Haji  Ali,  and  three  others, 
made  a  formal  visit  to  the  Shabandar,  obtained  ad- 
mission to  his  house,  and  found  in  it  no  one  besides 
himself  and  a  Sumatran  Raja,  a  visitor  from  down 

118 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

river.  I  say  no  one  else  but,  as  Penglima  Prang 
well  knew,  there  were  in  the  Shabandar's  house  two 
aged  ladies,  the  mother  of  the  Sultan's  children  and 
her  sister. 

The  five  men  waited  until  they  saw  the  Sumatran 
Raja  take  his  departure,  and  in  order  to  do  this 
visitor  honour,  the  Shabandar  unarmed  and  un- 
attended, accompanied  him  to  the  river-bank  and 
there  bid  him  farewell. 

This  was  the  moment  for  the  development  of  the 
plot. 

Penglima  Prang  Semaun  took  leave  of  the  Sha- 
bandar and  shook  hands  with  him.  Haji  Ali,  a  very 
big  powerful  man,  then  also  took  leave  and  grasped 
the  Shabandar's  hand,  but  instead  of  letting  it  go  he 
drew  the  Datoh  towards  him,  and  the  reply  to  his 
question  of  what  this  meant  was  a  stab  in  the  back 
from  Penglima  Prang  Semaun's  kris. 

The  blade  did  not  pierce  the  skin,  it  bent,  and  the 
thrust  was  repeated  with  the  same  result,  Haji  Ali 
all  the  while  holding  the  unarmed  man  by  the  hand. 

Then  the  Penglima  threw  away  the  useless 
weapon,  and,  seizing  another  kris,  plunged  it  time 
after  time  into  the  helpless  body  of  the  Shabandar, 
who  fell  to  the  ground,  while  Haji  Ali  and  each  of 
the  others  stabbed  him  in  turn. 

119 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

Leaving  the  body  lying  on  the  bank,  the  men 
rushed  straight  back  into  the  house,  shut  the  gates 
of  the  enclosure  and  immediately  prepared  to  defend 
themselves,  taking  particular  care  that  the  two  ladies 
already  mentioned  should  not  get  away. 

The  news  of  a  murder  perpetrated  like  this  is 
carried  on  the  breeze,  and  for  a  few  minutes  the 
Shabandar's  adherents  rushed  up  one  after  the  other 
to  be  slaughtered  as  they  arrived  by  the  Penglima 
and  his  party  reinforced  by  their  own  men  who  had 
been  awaiting  the  denouement. 

Then  gates  and  doors  were  closed,  windows 
barred,  cannon,  pivot-guns,  and  muskets  loaded,  and 
Penglima  Prang  Semaun  having  rifled  the  house 
(which  contained  the  customs  collections  as  well  as 
the  Shabandar's  private  property),  and  thus  possessed 
himself  of  all  those  things  which  he  previously 
lacked,  sat  down  to  calmly  await  the  development 
of  events. 

The  plot  had  been  cunningly  conceived.  The 
brutal  murder  of  the  unarmed  chief  was  certain  to  be 
instantly  avenged,  and  that  would  have  been  done 
by  an  attack  on  the  house  had  it  not  been  that  it 
contained,  besides  the  murderers,  the  Sultan's  late 
wife  and  her  sister,  who  were  wellnigh  sure  to 
come  to  harm  in  the  assault. 

120 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

The  risk  of  that  possibility  deterred  the  Sultan's 
people,  who  had  surrounded  the  house  with 
stockades,  and  all  that  could  be  done  was  to  prevent 
the  Penglima,  Haji  Ali,  and  their  rrten,  from  escaping. 
The  process  of  starving  out  the  besieged  could  not 
be  resorted  to,  for  here  also  the  ladies  would  have 
suffered. 

The  moment  the  deed  was  done,  Penglima  Prang 
Semaun  proclaimed  that  he  was  merely  the  instru- 
ment of  the  Sultan's  Wazir,  and  that  he  had  acted 
on  the  authority  of  the  Raja  Bendahara.  That,  if 
true,  complicated  the  case  considerably,  and  as 
matters  had  arrived  at  an  impasse,  a  parley  was 
called,  and  it  was  arranged  that  the  Penglima  and 
his  people  should  be  given  a  safe-conduct  to  the 
Sultan  at  Pasir  Panjang. 

Accordingly,  the  Penglima  Prang,  Haji  AH,  and 
the  others  left  their  shelter  and  embarked  in  boats 
provided  for  them,  but  they  took  good  care  not  to 
let  the  ladies,  who  were  their  prisoners,  get  out  of 
reach. 

Arrived  at  Pasir  Panjang,  Penglima  Prang  at 
once  sent  a  messenger  to  the  Raja  Bendahara  to 
inform  him  of  the  state  of  affairs  and  ask  his  aid. 
The  Bendahara  responded  to  this  appeal  by  taking 
boat,  and,  with  a  great  following,  descended  the 

121 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

river  to  Pasir  Panjang.  Once  there,  he  availed 
himself  of  an  ancient  custom  called  ikat-diri — that 
is,  to  "  bind  yourself  " — and,  accompanied  by  all  his 
people,  he  went  and  stood  in  front  of  the  Sultan's 
house  with  his  hands  loosely  tied  behind  his  back 
with  his  own  head-kerchief,  and,  thus  uncovered  in 
the  sun,  he  and  all  his  following  shouted  dmpun 
Tuan-ku,  be-ribu-ribu  dmpun — "  Pardon,  my  lord,  a 
thousand-thousand  pardons." 

After  a  quarter  of  an  hour's  waiting,  while  the 
air  was  filled  with  this  plea  for  mercy,  and  the 
Bendahara  and  his  company  stood  like  prisoners  in 
front  of  the  closed  house,  a  door  opened,  a  herald 
bearing  the  Sultan's  insignia  appeared  and  cried 
out :  "  Our  lord  pardons  you,  and  permits  you  to 
enter  into  his  presence." 

That  settled  the  affair.  The  Sultan's  minister 
had  accepted  the  responsibility  for  what  had  been 
done ;  he  was  far  too  great  a  man  to  be  treated  as 
a  criminal,  and,  taking  advantage  of  an  old  custom, 
he  confessed  his  fault,  offered  himself  a  prisoner, 
sought  and  obtained  the  Sultan's  pardon. 

Amongst  those  who  had  received  the  message  of 
peace,  and  who  entered  into  the  presence,  were  the 
Penglima  Prang  Semaun,  Haji  Ali,  and  the  three 
other  murderers  of  the  Shabandar. 

122 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

Now,  the  Shabandar  had  a  brother,  and  he  was 
a  man  of  war,  and  the  Sultan  well  knew  that  this 
method  of  dealing  with  the  murderers  would  not 
satisfy  him,  so  he  at  once  created  him  Datoh 
Shabandar  in  succession  to  the  dead  man,  in  the 
hope  that  the  gift  of  this  dignity  might  make  for 
the  general  peace. 

The  Raja  Bendahara,  accompanied  by  Penglima 
Prang  and  his  friends,  then  returned  to  Blanja. 

The  new  Shabandar  had  no  intention  of  leaving 
his  brother's  murderers  to  boast  of  their  exploit, 
and,  in  a  very  short  time,  he  asked  for  the  Sultan's 
permission  to  attack  them  and  wipe  out  the  disgrace 
of  his  relative's  unavenged  death. 

The  Sultan  said  the  request  must  be  preferred  to 
the  Raja  Bendahara,  for  so  long  as  the  Penglima 
Prang  was  in  his  village  he  could  not  be  attacked 
without  the  Wazir's  sanction.  Application  was  duly 
made  to  the  Bendahara,  who  replied  that  it  woulol 
be  contrary  to  custom  to  attack  the  Penglima 
Prang  while  living  at  his  door,  but  that  if  they 
could  get  him  away  they  might  do  what  they 
pleased. 

The  Penglima  Prang  was,  however,  far  too  wary 
to  be  lured  away  from  safety,  and  matters  were  in 
this  state  when  there  returned  from  a  pilgrimage  to 

123 


MALAY  SKETCHES 

Mecca  a  man  called  Haji  Musah,  nearly  related  to 
the  late  Shabandar. 

Haji  Musah  was  at  this  time  a  rather  small,  spare 
man  of  middle  age,  but  his  heart  was  out  of  propor- 
tion to  the  size  of  his  body,  and  when  he  heard 
what  had  recently  taken  place  in  Bandar,  and  how 
Penglima  Prang  Semaun  and  Haji  Ali  had  got  away 
unpunished,  his  anger  knew  no  bounds. 

He  promptly  waited  upon  the  Sultan  and  begged 
for  permission  to  attack  the  Penglima,  and,  if 
necessary,  to  include  in  the  operations  his  protector, 
the  Raja  Bendahara. 

The  Sultan  hesitated  to  give  the  desired  permis- 
sion, but  the  fact  that  the  proposal  had  been  made 
very  soon  reached  Blanja  and  the  ears  of  both  the 
Wazir  and  Penglima  Prang.  Whatever  the  latter 
was  he  could  not  be  accused  of  cowardice,  and  he 
at  once  offered  to  anticipate  an  attack  by  making 
JLU  expedition  against  Haji  Musah  to  silence  so 
arrogant  a  foe. 

The  Raja  Bendahara  enraged  at  the  idea  that 
his  name  should  have  been  mentioned  with  so  little 
respect,  and  apprehensive  that  Haji  Musah  might 
find  the  means  (as  he  knew  he  had  the  will)  to 
carry  out  his  suggestion,  cordially  approved  the 
Penglima's  proposal. 

124 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

It  did  not  take  long  to  collect  from  the  neigh- 
bouring village  of  Lambor  enough  men  to  fill  two 
boats,  and,  as  that  was  all  the  Penglima  wanted  for 
his  purpose,  the  party  had  started"  for  Batak  Rabit 
(Haji  Musah's  village)  before  the  down-stream 
people  had  the  smallest  inkling  of  their  intention. 
The  time  was  specially  well  chosen  from  the  fact 
that  the  Shabandar  was  absent  in  a  remote  district. 

In  Japan  they  say,  "  If  you  have  not  seen  Nikko 
you  cannot  say  gekko"  and  if  there  is  anyone  who 
knows  the  Malay  Peninsula  and  yet  has  never 
watched  the  sun  set  across  the  rice-fields,  when 
the  ripe  grain  hangs  heavily  in  the  ear,  his  know- 
ledge of  the  beauties  of  Malay  scenery  is  very  in- 
complete. 

A  wide,  flat  plain  covered  by  the  golden  harvest, 
the  rice- stalks  standing  five  or  six  feet  above  the 
ground  from  which  they  have  sucked  all  the  water 
which  nourished  them  in  the  earlier  stages  o/ 
growth.  One  yellow  sea  of  yellow  ears,  the  green 
stalks  only  discernible  in  the  near  foreground. 

This  sea  is  broken  by  islands  of  palms  and  fruit- 
trees  in  which  nestle  the  picturesque  brown  huts  of 
cottagers,  houses  of  wood,  built  on  wooden  piles 
with  palm-thatched  roofs  and  mat  walls. 

The  setting  sun  strikes  in  great  beams  of  saffron 
"5 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

light  across  this  wide  expanse  of  grain  bounded  by 
distant  ranges  of  soft  blue  hills.  How  greedily  one 
drinks  it  all  in !  and,  as  the  Eye  of  Day  droops 
lower,  there  shoot  from  between  its  closing  lids 
rays  of  fire  which  tinge  the  glistening  palms  with  a 
rosy  effulgence,  followed  all  too  soon  by  the  pale 
opalescent  shades  which  proclaim  the  approach  of 
the  fast-driving  chariot  of  night. 

A  grey  haze  rises  from  the  damp  earth,  spreads 
in  thin  wreaths  across  the  darkening  plain,  thickens 
to  a  heavy  dead-white  vapour,  and  as  the  silver 
sickle  rises  over  the  distant  hills  it  shines  upon 
clustered  plumes  of  dark  fronds  mysteriously  poised 
above  a  motionless  drift  of  snow-like  cloud. 

On  the  edge  of  such  a  field  was  the  home  of 
Haji  Musah.  Behind  stretched  the  rich  plain,  in 
front  a  great  river,  both  wide  and  deep,  its  banks 
lined  by  groves  of  coco-nuts  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  villages,  but  elsewhere  covered  by  forest  and  the 
nipah  palm. 

The  dwelling  stood  a  few  feet  back  from  the 
river,  and,  as  its  owner  was  a  man  of  means,  the 
structure  was  of  some  size,  the  floor  and  walls  of 
stout  planks  and  a  strong  palisade  enclosed  the 
surrounding  yard.  The  house  was,  as  usual,  on 

wooden  piles,  and  the  kitchen,   also  on   piles  but 

126 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

separated  from  the  main  building,  was  connected 
with  it  by  a  platform. 

It  was  here  that  Penglima  Prang  Semaun,  Haji 
Ali,  and  the  rest  of  their  crew  arrived  one  morning 
before  daylight  and  quickly  landed  under  the  cover 
of  darkness. 

The  enterprise  they  had  undertaken  was  a 
perilous  one.  Their  force  numbered  about  thirty 
men  all  told,  they  had  come  about  ninety  miles 
right  into  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  country,  and,  if 
there  were  any  failure,  retreat  was  a  choice  between 
a  return  against  the  current  with  a  hostile  people 
on  either  bank,  or  a  long  pull  to  the  river's  mouth 
under  the  same  conditions  and  then  the  sea. 

Penglima  Prang  Semaun  had,  however,  cal- 
culated the  chances,  and  he  counted  on  a  suc- 
cessful surprise  and,  if  need  be,  the  pursuit  of 
those  tactics  which  he  had  already,  at  Bandar, 
found  so  useful. 

Once  on  shore  the  palisade  of  Haji  Musah's  house 
was  cautiously  approached,  and,  the  gate  being 
locked,  it  was  scaled,  and  the  whole  party  noise- 
lessly established  themselves  beneath  the  house  and 
waited  for  daylight. 

It  so  happened  that  the  house  contained  only  two 

men  and  two  women — Haji  Musah  and  his  wife, 

127 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

Haji  Hawah,  and  their  daughter  and  son-in-law,  the 
latter  named  Haji  Sahil. 

At  daybreak  the  back  door  of  the  house  was 
opened  and  the  two  women  came  out  and  went  into 
the  kitchen.  In  a  moment  Haji  Hawah  discovered 
that  the  space  beneath  the  house  was  full  of  armed 
men,  and  with  a  scream  she  rushed  back  towards 
the  door.  Ere  she  could  gain  it,  Haji  AH  sprang 
upon  the  platform  and  seized  one  of  her  hands, 
while  her  husband,  unpleasantly  alive  to  the  situa- 
tion, caught  hold  of  the  other  and  tried  to  pull  her 
within  the  door,  an  effort  which  she  seconded  with 
all  her  might. 

A  real  tug-of-war  was  carried  on  for  a  few 
moments,  and  Haji  Ali  was  joined  by  another  man. 

Local  tradition  says  that  Haji  Ali  experienced 
suddenly  a  feeling  that  something  dire  was  going  to 
happen,  and  he  asked  his  companion  to  relieve  him 
of  his  hold  of  the  woman's  hand.  The  man  took 
it,  and  Haji  Musah  from  the  inside  making  a  great 
effort  drew  his  wife  towards  him,  and  at  the  same 
time,  with  a  spear,  thrust  out  beyond  her  with  so 
true  an  aim  that  he  transfixed  her  would-be  captor. 
The  man  released  his  hold,  fell  with  a  groan  into 
Haji  Ali's  arms,  and  Haji  Musah,  drawing  his  wife 
into  the  house  and  believing  he  had  wounded  Peng- 

128 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

lima  Prang  Semaun,  shouted  as  he  closed  the  door, 
"  That  has  wetted  you,  Penglima  !  " 

Wetted  him  with  blood. 

Haji  Ali  called  to  the  Penglima;  "  Help  me,  a 
1  watering '  has  befallen  our  friend  "  ;  a  polite  way 
of  expressing  a  disaster.  By  the  time  they  got  the 
man  to  the  ground  he  was  dead,  for  the  spear  had 
struck  home. 

The  Penglima,  furious  at  this  sight,  leapt  on  the 
platform,  and,  finding  the  door  immovable,  dashed 
open  a  small  side-window  with  the  butt  end  of  a 
musket  and  fired  into  the  house,  but  hurt  no  one. 

In  the  scuffle  before  the  door  was  closed  Haji 
Musah  had  accidentally  given  his  son-in-law  a  flesh 
wound  on  the  shoulder,  and  that  had  disabled  him, 
so  the  defence  of  the  position  rested  on  one  man 
alone. 

Penglima  Prang  Semaun  now  summoned  Haji 
Musah  to  surrender,  but  the  reply  was,  "  I  will  not 
surrender." 

"Then,"  said  the  Penglima,  "I  will  riddle  the 
house  with  bullets." 

"  Shoot  away,"  was  the  reply. 

"  I  will  burn  the  house  down." 

"  Burn  it,"  said  Haji  Musah,  "  and  do  whatever 
else  you  like,  but  I  will  not  give  in." 

129  i 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

"  Let  us  burn  it,"  said  the  Penglima.  But  Haji 
Ali  protested.  "Are  you  mad,"  he  urged,  "already 
our  enemies  are  collecting  outside,  you  would  burn 
the  house  down  and  these  people  in  it,  and  then 
what  should  we  do  ?  Caught  like  fish  in  a  basket, 
without  walls  or  roof  to  shelter  us,  what  will 
become  of  us  ?" 

The  wisdom  of  this  advice  was  apparent,  and  as 
it  was  necessary  to  deal  with  those  in  the  house 
quickly  the  leader  set  to  work  to  devise  another 
plan. 

An  evil  inspiration  came  to  the  Penglima,  and  he 
told  Haji  Ali  to  get  Haji  Musah  into  conversation 
again  while  he,  having  loaded  with  all  manner  of 
missiles  a  pivot-gun  which  he  found  under  the 
house,  listened  attentively  to  the  sound  of  Haji 
Musah's  voice,  and  tying  the  gun  to  a  post  just 
beneath  the  spot  where  he  thought  the  Haji  must  be 
standing,  fired  it. 

A  large  hole  was  rent  in  the  floor,  and,  the 
various  missiles  scattering  in  all  directions,  one  of 
them  struck  Haji  Musah  in  the  thigh,  seriously 
wounding  him  and  placing  him  hors  de  combat. 
His  wife  was  also  hit,  but  only  slightly  injured. 

The  assailants  realised  the  effects  of  the  shot 
from  what  they  heard  said  within  and  again  called 

130 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

upon  Haji  Musah  to  yield,  but  he  declined  utterly 
to  do  so. 

His  wife  said,  "  What  is  the  use,  you  are  wounded 
and  cannot  fight,  so  am  I  and  so  is-  Haji  Sahil,  what 
can  we  do,  better  make  terms  with  them  ?  "  Haji 
Musah  stubbornly  declined  to  listen  to  this  persua- 
sion and  only  said,  "Let  them  do  their  worst,  I 
will  not  yield." 

Strange  to  say  it  was  only  then  that  Haji  Hawah 
realised  that  her  daughter  was  missing.  She 
remembered  that  the  girl  had  left  the  house  with  her 
and  gone  into  the  kitchen,  but  until  that  moment, 
what  with  the  discovery  that  the  enemy  was  within 
their  gates,  the  struggle  at  the  door  and  subsequent 
events,  she  had  not  thought  of  the  girl  further  than 
to  suppose  she  was  sitting  terrified  in  some  corner 
of  the  never  brilliantly  lighted  house. 

Now,  however,  it  was  certain  that  she  had  failed 
to  get  back  before  the  door  was  closed  and  must 
have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  nothing  of  the  kind  had 
happened.  On  the  first  alarm,  seeing  the  crowd  of 
strange  men  and  her  mother's  struggles  to  gain  the 
house,  the  girl  was  too  terrified  to  leave  her  shelter 
and  had  hidden  herself  in  the  kitchen.  The  enemy 
being  all  under  the  house  when  the  women  first 

131 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

came  out,  no  one  had  particularly  noticed  the  girl 
or  ever  thought  of  entering  her  hiding-place. 

The  moment  Haji  Hawah  was  convinced  her 
daughter  was  not  in  the  house,  she  became  equally 
certain  she  was  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  that 
was  an  intolerable  idea.  She,  therefore,  besought 
her  husband  to  offer  to  yield  provided  the  girl  were 
restored.  This  new  factor  in  the  case  persuaded 
him,  and  Haji  Musah  called  out  that  he  would  yield 
if  his  daughter  were  given  back  to  them. 

At  first  the  besiegers  could  not  understand  the 
meaning  of  this  proposal,  but  light  very  soon  came 
to  them  and  they  argued  that  if  the  girl  was  not 
inside  the  house  or  in  their  hands,  she  must  be  in 
the  kitchen,  and  a  search  of  that  place  very  soon 
discovered  her. 

The  Penglima  accordingly  replied  that  he  accepted 
the  proposal  and  would  restore  the  girl  on  condition 
her  father  yielded.  The  door  was  then  opened  and 
the  girl  admitted,  but  no  sooner  was  she  in  the 
house  than  it  was  closed  again  and  Haji  Musah 
declined  to  give  himself  up. 

Shortly  after,  however,  the  loss  of  blood  and 
pain  of  his  stiffening  limb  made  movement  impos- 
sible and  compelled  Haji  Musah  to  abandon  all  idea 
of  further  resistance. 

132 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

The  Penglima  and  his  friends  having  gained  the 
house  proceeded  to  make  themselves  comfortable 
and  did  not  attempt  to  disturb  or  annoy  Haji  Musah 
and  his  family.  These  latter  occupied  a  curtained 
portion  of  the  principal  room,  and  underneath  their 
only  window  a  sentry  was  placed  night  and  day. 

Meanwhile  the  Shabandar,  informed  by  messenger 
of  what  had  taken  place,  hurried  back  to  the  neigh- 
bourhood and  reinforced  the  adherents  of  Haji  Musah, 
who  so  far  had  contented  themselves  with  building 
and  occupying  stockades  to  command  Haji  Musah's 
house. 

The  Penglima's  tactics  were  again  completely 
successful,  and  as  it  was  impossible  to  fire  on  the 
captors  without  danger  to  their  imprisoned  friends 
the  Shabandar,  who  now  commanded  the  investing 
force,  set  himself  to  devise  a  plan  whereby  he  might 
gain  his  end  by  craft. 

The  Penglima's  men  occupied  the  house  and  one 
or  two  small  stockades  close  by  it.  The  Shabandar's 
party  had  built  a  series  of  enclosing  works  which 
practically  cut  off  escape  to  landward.  In  front 
was  the  river  and  here  again,  both  up  stream  and 
down,  there  lay  a  small  fleet  of  guard-boats. 

The  Penglima's  own  two  boats  were  chained  to 
the  landing-stage  where  they  were  safe,  for  it  would 

133 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

have  been  impossible  to  seize  them  without  being 
exposed  to  fire  from  the  house,  to  which  no  reply 
could  be  made. 

A  month  went  by,  and  in  that  time  Haji  Musah, 
his  wife,  and  son-in-law  had  fairly  recovered  from 
their  injuries.  Meanwhile  the  Shabandar,  by  means 
of  spies,  learned  that  the  prisoners  occupied  a  side 
of  the  house  where  there  was  but  one  window,  and 
that  always  guarded  at  night  by  the  same  man. 
Through  this  man  there  was  the  best  chance  of 
escape  for  the  prisoners,  if  only  he  could  be  bought 
over. 

This  sentry,  who  had  some  authority  over  part  of 
the  band,  was  a  foreigner,  he  was  getting  tired  of 
the  game  and  probably  did  not  altogether  like  the 
outlook  or  see  how  his  party  was  to  turn  the 
situation  to  their  own  advantage.  At  any  rate 
communications  were  opened  between  the  Shabandar 
and  him,  and  for  a  sum  of  two  thousand  dollars  he 
promised  to  get  the  prisoners  out  of  the  window 
and  through  the  lines  to  their  friends. 

In  the  dead  of  a  dark  night  (and  moonless  Eastern 
nights  can  be  black  as  a  sepulchre)  he  assisted  the 
four  prisoners  to  make  their  escape  through  the 
window,  while  the  Penglima,  Haji  Ali,  and  a  number 
of  their  men  slept  peacefully  on  the  other  side  of 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

the  sheltering  curtain    that    gave    privacy  to    the 
women. 

Guided  by  the  traitor,  their  movements  hidden  in 
Cimmerian  darkness,  the  little  party  made  its  way 
in  safety  to  the  friendly  shelter  of  the  Shabandar's 
stockade.  He  was  expecting  them,  and  he  had  also 
prepared  an  unpleasant  surprise  for  the  cuckoos  in 
temporary  occupation  of  their  stolen  nest. 

Penglima  Prang  Semaun  and  his  friends  were 
awakened  from  sleep  by  the  banging  of  jingals  and 
muskets  and  a  hail  of  various  missiles. 

A  moment's  search  showed  that  the  prisoners  had 
escaped,  and  the  Penglima  instantly  realised  that  he 
was  in  the  toils. 

He  had  already  shown  that  he  was  a  man  of 
resource,  and  his  presence  of  mind  did  not  desert 
him  in  this  dangerous  crisis.  The  darkness  alone 
protected  them,  and  that  would  not  last ;  moreover, 
he  could  not  tell  at  what  moment  his  position  might 
not  be  rushed.  It  was  clear  that  for  them  was 
reserved  the  fate  of  those  who  when  they  got  up  in 
the  morning  were  all  dead  men. 

The  Penglima  called  his  followers  together, 
explained  the  situation  and  its  urgency,  pointed  out 
the  choice  that  lay  before  them — an  attempt  to  pass 
the  enemy's  stockades  under  cover  of  the  night  or  to 

i3S 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

run  the  gauntlet  of  the  guard-boats,  where  capture 
was,  as  he  said,  certain. 

The  men  of  the  band,  the  wretched  Lambor  con- 
tingent, elected,  as  the  Penglima  had  meant  they 
should  do,  to  try  and  force  their  way  through  the 
enemy's  lines,  never  thinking  that  if  they  succeeded 
they  would  only  reach  a  pathless  jungle  swamp, 
where  they,  strangers  in  that  part  of  the  country, 
must  either  perish  miserably  or  return  to  the  tender 
mercies  of  the  investing  foe. 

Of  these  deplorable  eventualities  they  took  no 
thought ;  there  was  little  time  for  hesitation  ;  tight- 
ening the  grasp  upon  their  weapons  they  went  out 
into  the  night,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  shouts 
from  the  surrounding  stockades  showed  that  their 
intention  had  been  discovered. 

This  was  exactly  what  Penglima  Prang  Semaun 
had  expected ;  he  had  created  a  diversion,  and 
seizing  his  opportunity,  accompanied  by  Haji  AH 
and  a  few  of  his  particular  associates,  he  made  for 
the  river  and  got  into  one  of  his  boats,  cast  off  and 
pulled  out  into  the  stream. 

A  very  wily  man  was  the  Penglima.  Every  one 
in  the  guard-boats  was  on  the  alert,  the  firing  and 
shouts  from  the  shore  had  warned  them  that  the  fox 
was  being  hunted  in  the  covert,  and  the  pack  were 

136 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

after  him  in  full  cry.  Still  there  was  just  a  trifle  of 
uncertainty  about  it,  and  that  was  the  Penglima's 
one  chance  of  salvation. 

The  slightest  hesitation  now,  the  smallest  of  false 
steps,  and  neither  the  Penglima  nor  any  of  those  with 
him  would  ever  see  the  dawn.  He  knew  it  well 
enough,  and  as  he  ordered  those  who  had  taken  the 
oars  to  pull  out  boldly  into  the  stream,  he  grasped 
the  helm  and  steering  straight  up  the  middle  of  the 
river,  against  the  tide,  he  gave  orders  that  no  man 
should  speak,  undertaking  the  whole  responsibility 
himself. 

It  was  still  so  dark  that  no  one  could  see  quite 
whence  this  boat  came,  or  distinguish  who  was  in  it, 
but  as  it  moved  with  plenty  of  noise  and  no  attempt 
at  concealment  right  towards  the  line  of  guard-boats, 
some  one  called  out,  "  Who  goes  there  ?  " 

"It  is  I,"  replied  the  Penglima,  "I  bring  the 
Shabandar's  orders  to  you  to  keep  a  good  look-out, 
they  are  attacking  the  Penglima  Prang,  and  as  he 
can't  hold  out  he  will  probably  try  to  escape  by  the 
river.  Be  ready  for  him,  I  am  going  to  warn  the 
boats  down  stream,"  and  turning  round  the  craft 
disappeared  towards  the  other  line  of  river- 
sentinels. 

No  one  of  course  suspected  a  ruse  under  such  a 
i37 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

bold  disguise  as  that,  and,  pulling  straight  for  the 
down-stream  boats,  steering  right  on  and  through 
them,  the  Penglima  called  out,  "  Jdga-jdga,  '  be  on 
your  guard,'  the  Shabandar  sends  orders  to  watch 
for  the  Penglima  Prang  Semaun,  he  is  trying  to 
escape,  I  am  warning  all  the  boats." 

No  one  could  distinctly  see  who  this  messenger 
was,  or  even  catch  more  than  a  shadowy  glimpse  of 
a  spectral  craft  as  she  glided  through  the  line,  and 
in  the  excitement  of  expectation,  the  noise  of  firing 
and  rival  battle-shouts  on  shore,  no  one  took  special 
heed  as  to  which  way  the  messengers  went,  or 
whether  that  was  the  sound  of  their  oars  echoing 
faintly  in  the  distance. 

The  Shabandar  on  his  part  made  no  long  tarry- 
ing, but  eager  to  revenge  the  murder  of  his  brother, 
and  feeling  that  at  last  the  Penglima  and  Haji  AH 
were  in  his  power,  he  determined  to  meng-dmok,  to 
rush  the  house  at  once  without  waiting  for  day- 
light. 

Whilst  summoning  his  men  for  the  assault,  he 
heard  the  cries  that  told  him  the  besieged  were 
making  an  attempt  to  break  through  his  stockades, 
and  without  further  delay  he  dashed  into  Haji 
Musah's  house,  only  to  find  it  empty,  the  renowned 
Penglima  and  his  amiable  friend  gone,  and  with 

138 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

them  a  considerable  quantity  of  dollars  and  every- 
thing that  was  both  valuable  and  easily  portable. 

Torches  and  an  examination  of  the  muddy  ground 
soon  established  the  direction  taken,  and  the  missing 
boat,  coupled  with  the  missing  property,  convinced 
the  least  astute  that  by  this  way  went  the  Penglima 
Prang  Semaun. 

Many  shouted  questions  from  the  bank  drew  forth 
many  assurances  from  those  on  the  water  that  no 
enemy  had  passed  that  way.  The  evidence  to  the 
contrary  was,  however,  all  too  plain,  and  as  the 
boats  one  by  one  came  up  to  the  landing-place,  and 
the  watchers  told  their  tale,  it  became  evident  that 
once  again  the  Penglima  Prang  Semaun  had  justified 
his  reputation  for  both  daring  and  resource. 

He  had  made  for  the  sea,  his  party  did  not 
number  ten,  and  they  were  in  one  boat.  There 
was  still  time  to  overtake  or  intercept  them  at  the 
river's  mouth,  and,  as  the  grey  light  of  dawn  began 
to  lift  the  veil  of  mist  and  the  freshening  breeze 
swept  in  chilly  gusts  over  the  water,  a  fleet  of  boats 
set  off  to  search  the  creeks  and  backwaters,  while 
others  had  orders  to  pull  straight  to  the  river's 
mouth,  and  there  take  line  and  see  that  none  passed 
out  to  sea. 

The  Penglima  meanwhile  had  wasted  no  time. 
139 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

'Twixt  the  devil  behind  and  the  deep  sea  in  front, 
he  had  no  difficulty  in  determining  which  way  lay 
safety ;  but  he  also  realised  that  it  could  not  be  an 
hour,  it  might  be  only  a  few  minutes  before  his  ruse 
would  be  discovered,  and  with  his  crew  he  could 
not  hope  to  reach  the  sea  without  being  overtaken. 
The  rowers  needed  little  exhortation  to  strain  every 
nerve,  and  after  a  few  miles  had  been  travelled,  the 
boat  was  forced  through  heavy  overhanging  branches 
into  an  all  but  imperceptible  creek,  so  narrow  the 
entrance  and  so  thoroughly  concealed  that  no  one 
would  dream  of  its  existence.  The  boat  could  only 
be  got  a  few  yards  up  this  ditch,  and  the  party, 
leaving  it  entirely  hidden,  ensconced  themselves  in 
a  tangled  mass  of  jungle  foliage  from  which  they 
commanded  a  view  of  the  river. 

Here  the  fugitives  lay  all  day,  and  watched  the 
boats  of  their  enemies  pass  by  intent  on  the  fruitless 
search. 

It  was  not  a  pleasant  place  nor  did  they  spend  an 
altogether  happy  day,  for  they  were  not  yet  out  of 
the  wood,  indeed  the  chances  of  escape  were  still 
decidedly  against  them,  but  for  the  moment  they 
were  safe,  and  whatever  was  to  come  could  not  be 
worse  than  the  situation  from  which  their  leader 

had  already  extricated  them. 

140 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

Whilst  the  Penglima  was  running  the  gauntlet 
of  the  guard-boats  his  late  companions,  the  men  of 
Lambor,  ,some  twenty  or  thirty  in  number,  were 
having  a  worse  experience  on  shore. 

Being  a  large  party  and  in  their  haste  not  over- 
cautious, they  were,  of  course,  discovered  as  they 
tried  to  break  through  the  line  of  stockades.  Some 
were  shot,  others  were  speared  and  krised  in  hand- 
to-hand  encounters,  while  a  few  got  away  to  the 
forest  under  cover  of  the  darkness.  But  when 
these  stragglers  fully  realised  that  it  was  a  choice 
between  the  enemy  and  painful  wandering  in  a 
swampy  and  well-nigh  impenetrable  jungle,  with 
the  prospect  of  starvation  and  a  lingering  death,  they 
chose  rather  to  return  to  the  light  and  a  speedier 
reckoning. 

None  of  this  band  returned  to  Lambor,  and  if 
they  sought  their  fate  and  made  an  unprovoked 
attack  upon  Haji  Musah  it  is  not  altogether  sur- 
prising that  to  this  day  there  is  no  wasted  affection 
between  the  people  of  Lambor  and  the  Lower  Perak 
Chiefs. 

All  through  that  sultry  day,  as  one  by  one  these 
doomed  men  appeared  from  the  jungle  fastness  and 
went  down  before  the  weapons  of  their  adversaries, 
waiting  tirelessly  expectant  in  the  certainty  that  no 

141 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

refuge  would  be  found  in  those  inhospitable  depths, 
the  Penglima  and  his  little  band  lay  close  in  their 
concealment  and  longed  for  sheltering  night. 

All  day  long  the  Shabandar's  boats  passed  hither 
and  thither,  and  with  the  nightfall  many  appeared  to 
abandon  the  search  and  returned  on  the  rising  tide. 

Then  an  hour  or  two  of  the  new-born  moon,  and 
after  that  thick  darkness. 

The  Penglima  and  his  friends  had  regained  their 
boat,  and  as,  about  midnight,  the  tide  began  to  ebb, 
the  vessel  was  pushed  noiselessly  out  into  the  river 
and  bracing  themselves  for  a  final  effort  the  rowers 
gripped  their  oars,  stiffened  their  backs  and  put 
their  whole  strength  into  the  work  before  them. 

The  river  as  it  approaches  the  sea  grows  wider 
at  every  bend,  the  searchers  were  exhausted  and 
asleep,  or  had  already  returned  up-stream,  the 
night  was  dark  and  the  fugitives  were  unmolested 
until,  between  4  A.M.  and  5  A.M.,  in  the  last  reach, 
they  saw  a  line  of  boats  guarding  the  river's  mouth. 

There  were  wide  intervals  between  each  vessel, 
but  even  in  that  uncertain  light  it  was  impossible 
for  a  boat  to  run  this  blockade  without  being  seen. 

At  this  final  juncture  the  Penglima's  Familiar  did 
not  desert  him. 

Of  course  the  earth  ought  to  have  opened  and 
142 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

swallowed  up  this  hardened  criminal  as  it  did  Korah, 
Dathan,  Abiram,  and  all  their  company  ;  he  ought 
to  have  been  shot  or  drowned  or  speared  if  he  were 
not  being  reserved  for  hanging,  v  At  any  rate  this 
was  an  excellent  opportunity  for  getting  rid  of  two 
hardened  villains,  and  a  few  other  passably  wicked 
men.  The  Lambor  people,  whose  crimes  were  as 
snow  compared  to  those  of  these  two  arch-criminals, 
had  all  met  with  violent  deaths  and  no  miracle,  not 
even  so  much  as  a  small  streak  of  luck,  like  falling 
into  a  well  and  being  tended  by  a  beautiful  maiden, 
had  saved  the  life  of  one  of  them. 

Why  was  it  then  that,  as  these  cold-blooded 
assassins  cowered  together  and  wondered  how  they 
were  going  to  elude  the  vigilance  of  their  enemies, 
a  palpable  miracle  was  wrought  to  save  their  miser- 
able skins  ? 

It  cannot  be  said  that  anything  very  unusual  hap- 
pened, because  the  thing  is  of  common  occurrence, 
but  it  was  certainly  thoughtfully  arranged  that  at 
that  moment  there  should  sail  round  the  bend  of  the 
river,  in  the  strongest  flow  of  the  ebb-tide  (now  of 
course  slackening),  an  enormous  mass  of  floating 
palms,  a  very  island  of  foliage  broken  away  from 
some  undermined  bank  and  drifting  majestically  to 
the  wider  waters  of  the  sea. 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

If  these  great  clumps  of  root  and  branch  and 
foliage  may  be  seen  sailing  every  day  down  a 
Malay  river  into  the  Straits  of  Malacca,  this  parti- 
cular island  was  so  gigantic,  that  in  size  at  least  it 
was  miraculous.  It  is  possible  that  to  another  man 
the  passing  drift  would  have  suggested  nothing,  but 
the  Penglima  Prang  Semaun  was  on  such  terms 
with  Fortune  that  he  knew  exactly  the  psycholo- 
gical moment  at  which  to  take  her.  Here  he 
remembered  that  the  Malays  call  these  floating 
islands  dpong,  and  that  boats  know  very  much  better 
than  to  get  in  their  way.  His  craft  then  he 
promptly  steered  right  into  the  back  of  this  Satan- 
sent  refuge,  and,  forcing  it  in  amongst  the  palms  and 
covering  it  as  well  as  was  possible,  he  calmly  sat 
down  and  awaited  the  issue. 

The  island  sailed  slowly  along,  and  when  the  huge 
mass  got  near  enough  to  the  guard-boats  for  them 
to  realise  their  danger,  there  was  a  deal  of  shouting 
and  pulling  of  anchors,  kicking  up  sleepy  boatmen 
and  frantic  struggles  to  avoid  this  river  Juggernaut. 

So  passed  the  Penglima  Prang  Semaun ;  not  to 
the  vales  and  Queens  of  Avilion,  but  to  the  open 
sea,  from  sore  stress  to  safety,  from  an  earthly 
death  to  an  earthly  life. 

One   can  almost  hear  him  chuckle   as  he   sails 
144 


THE  PASSING  OF  PENGLIMA  PRANG  SEMAUN 

through  that  last  danger  and  watches  his  enemies' 
efforts  to  get  back  into  their  places. 

Malays  do  not  pine  for  manual  labour,  they  had 
already  had  more  than  enough  vof  it,  and  as  they 
were  now  being  towed  idly  along,  they  lay  down  to 
sleep,  vaguely  wondering,  in  that  moment  of  tired 
but  delicious  drowsiness,  what  occult  powers  this 
leader  possessed  to  secure  at  such  a  moment  the 
powerful  help  of  this  great  leviathan,  under  whose 
green  and  shady  sails  they  were  being  wafted  to 
safety  and  "  the  haven  where  they  would  be." 

A  day  or  two  of  pleasant  coasting,  a  walk  across 
country,  and  Penglima  Prang  Semaun,  with  Haji 
Ali  and  a  considerable  booty,  arrived  safely  at  Blanja 
and  received  the  congratulations  of  his  master,  the 
Raja  Bendahara. 

We  read  that  when  it  was  the  fashion  for  knights 
to  devote  themselves  to  the  service  of  distressed 
damsels,  they  wrought  many  startling  deeds,  which 
cannot  always  be  satisfactorily  explained  without 
recognising  that  devotion  in  so  good  a  cause  was 
sometimes  supernaturally  aided. 

Unfortunately,  the  practice  has  fallen  into  desue- 
tude ;  let  us  hope  it  is  because  the  damsels  of  the 
nineteenth  century  are  never  in  distress,  want  no 
assistance,  or  despise  that  of  the  mere  man. 

145  K 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

Malays  are  perhaps,  in  some  respects,  a  few 
hundred  years  behind  the  age,  and  I  like  to  think 
that  in  this  veracious  story  the  Penglima  Prang 
Semaun  made  his  first  appearance  as  the  champion 
of  a  lady  in  distress. 


146 


XIV 
BER-HANTU 

Striving  to  reach  the  mystic  source 
of  things,  the  secrets  of  the  earth 
and  sea  and  air 

L.  MORRIS 

WE  could  all  see  the  tunggul  merah,  the  crimson 
streak  which  boded  the  death  of  the  King. 
Looking  from  the  top  of  our  green-terraced  hill 
across  the  clear  wide  river  late  one  afternoon,  this 
curious  phenomenon  appeared  in  the  sky,  above  the 
last  spur  of  a  picturesque  range  of  mountains  which 
separates  the  valleys  of  two  considerable  streams 
whose  united  waters  flow  into  the  Straits  of 
Malacca. 

Standing  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  a  stretch 
of  level  land  lies  between  the  opposite  bank  and  the 
foot  of  this  range,  and  the  wealth  of  foliage  hides 
from  view  the  houses,  orchards,  and  ricefields  which 
cover  that  fertile  plain.  But  the  Sultan's  house,  a 
palm-thatched  wooden  structure,  three  houses  on 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

piles  joined  together  by  short  platforms  after  the 
accepted  Malay  pattern,  stands  out  clearly  enough, 
rather  down-stream  than  opposite  the  point  of 
view. 

The  crimson  portent  is  not  visible  for  long,  and 
we  realise  that,  whatever  it  means,  it  is  accounted 
for  by  the  segment  of  a  rainbow  shining  through  a 
bank  of  low  clouds  which  obscure  the  rest  of  the 
"  arch  of  heaven,"  and  so  blur  the  prismatic  colours 
that  nothing  is  clearly  discernible  but  a  short  column 
of  flame,  all  the  more  striking  for  its  dull  grey  back- 
ground. The  tradition  of  ill-omen  is  of  ancient 
origin,  but  the  fact  that  the  Sultan  now  lies  griev- 
ously ill  gives  an  air  of  probability  to  the  gossip  of 
the  prophets. 

That  evening,  as  we  sat  at  dinner,  we  were 
suddenly  startled  by  the  cry  of  the  banshee.  Up 
till  that  moment  we  had  none  of  us  had  any  personal 
acquaintance  with  the  banshee,  but  this  was  it  sure 
enough.  A  long-drawn-out  distressing  wail,  as  of 
a  lost  child,  repeated  at  uncertain  intervals,  now 
here  now  there,  first  on  one  side  of  the  house  and 
then  on  the  other,  at  one  moment  unpleasantly  close, 
and  the  next  a  piteous  little  half-choked  sob  in  the 
distance.  Without  any  doubt  this  was  the  banshee, 
and  as  the  moonlight  was  now  streaming  fitfully 

148 


BER-HANTU 

through  the  clouds  across  the  white  pillars  of  the 
verandah,  we  thought  we  might  have  the  good 
fortune  to  see  this  harbinger  of  doom. 

We  walked  out  on  to  the  moonlit  terrace,  and  the 
beauty  of  the  night  was  so  intense  that  one  felt  it  as 
through  a  new  sense. 

The  hill  on  which  the  house  stood  was  cut  into 
a  series  of  terraces,  and  the  highest  of  these,  a  wide 
lawn  of  velvety  grass,  was  surrounded  by  tall  graceful 
coco-nut  trees,  not  close  together  but  each  standing 
alone  with  its  spiky  leaves  clearly  delineated  against 
the  sky. 

Overhead  a  moon  shedding  that  wonderful  soft 
light  only  seen  in  the  East,  where  atmosphere, 
foliage,  and  all  the  surroundings  seem  specially 
designed  to  make  the  ascendancy  of  the  Queen  of 
Night  superbly  beautiful. 

The  exquisite  feathery  fronds  of  the  bamboo, 
bending  in  graceful  curves,  with  each  leaf  clearly 
defined  against  a  background  of  grey-blue  sky ;  a 
dozen  varieties  of  palms,  from  the  lofty  coco-nut 
and  the  stately  jagary  to  the  thick  clumps  of  bertam, 
like  gigantic  ferns ;  picturesque  groups  of  flowering 
trees  and  shrubs  on  terrace  after  terrace,  carry  the 
eye  down  to  the  shimmering  gleam  of  the  wide 

river  on  which  the  moonlight  falls  lovingly,  throwing 

149 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

into  greater  contrast  the  deep  shadows  that  lie  under 
the  overhanging  foliage  of  the  banks.  Four  miles 
of  glistening  water,  then  the  river  narrows  and  fades 
into  the  mist-enshrouded  forest. 

Close  beneath  us  twinkle  the  lights  of  the  village, 
the  houses  spreading  from  river-brink  to  the  high 
ground  which  rises  abruptly  on  our  left.  In  front 
and  on  either  side,  range  after  range  of  jungle- 
covered  hills,  from  fifteen  hundred  to  several  thou- 
sands of  feet  in  height.  There  is  a  luminous  haze 
over  all  distant  objects,  giving  the  idea  of  indefinite 
height  and  distance,  making  all  things  vague  and 
unsubstantial,  yet  infinitely  satisfying  that  other 
sense  which  only  awakes  under  the  influence  of 
perfect  beauty. 

The  extraordinary  charm  of  this  scene  intoxicated 
us  as  with  draughts  of  nectar,  and  in  that  enravish- 
ment  kings,  omens,  and  ghostly  warnings  were 
forgotten. 

But  hark !  Yes,  there  is  the  cry,  wailing  in  the 
distance — now  much  nearer,  and  now — before  our 
very  eyes  the  banshee  itself! 

Sailing  slowly  through  the  air  between  the 
feathery  leaves  of  the  palms,  like  a  lost  soul  wend- 
ing its  uncertain,  purposeless  way  through  the 
balmy  Eastern  night,  was  a  creature  with  heavy 

150 


BER-HANTU 

dark  wings,  a  head  disproportionately  large,  and 
horns,  veritable  horns !  As  it  slowly  passed  and 
moaned  its  childlike  plaint,  no  reasonable  being 
could  doubt  that  he  had  heard  and  seen  the  mes- 
senger of  death. 

That  weird  apparition,  sobbing  its  fateful  cry,, 
broke  the  spell  under  which  we  had  stood  enthralled,, 
and  though  we  felt  that  the  King's  fate  was  sealed, 
that  did  not  prevent  us  from  returning  to  dinner. 

Just  after  midnight  a  scared  Malay  came  to  say 
that  it  was  feared  the  Sultan  was  dying.  I  hurried 
down  the  hill,  took  boat  across  the  river,  and, 
stumbling  along  the  bank,  reached  the  house  where 
the  sick  man  lay. 

I  entered  upon  a  peculiar  scene.  I  said  the 
building  was  in  three  parts,  the  first  a  sort  of  ante- 
room, beyond  which  strangers  of  inferior  rank  did 
not  in  ordinary  circumstances  pass ;  then  came  the 
principal  structure,  which  consisted  of  one  large 
room,  wooden  pillars  dividing  off  verandahs  on 
either  side,  while  the  third  house  was  exclusively 
devoted  to  women,  and  attached  to  it  was  an  ex- 
crescence forming  the  kitchen. 

The  unsteady  light  of  several  lamps  and  many 
candles  showed  that  both  the  centre  and  ante-rooms 
were  full  of  people  sitting  on  the  mats  which  covered 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

the  floor.  There  must  have  been  between  one  and 
two  hundred  present,  and  I  noticed  that  there  were 
about  equal  numbers  of  men  and  women,  and  all  the 
principal  Malays  of  the  neighbourhood  were  there. 
The  curtains  which  usually  divided  the  centre  room 
were  up,  but  on  one  side  there  was  evidently  a  bed, 
screened  by  patchwork  hangings,  and  there  I  con- 
cluded His  Highness  lay. 

It  was  plain  from  the  preparations  that,  despairing 
of  effecting  a  cure  by  native  medicines  administered 
by  native  doctors,  it  was  intended  to  try  a  little 
witchcraft  and  have  a  performance  of  what  is  called 
Ber-hantu.  That  seemed  to  me  to  fall  in  very  well 
with  the  tunggul  merah  and  the  banshee,  and  I  was 
therefore  quite  prepared  for  the  raising  of  the  Devil 
or  any  other  uncanny  manifestation. 

I  may  as  well  say  here  that  hantu  is  a  ghost, 
devil  or  spirit,  and  ber-hantu  means  to  devil,  to  raise 
the  devil,  or,  at  any  rate,  to  engage  in  something  as 
nearly  akin  to  a  witches'  revel  on  the  Brocken  as 
Malay  traditions  and  surroundings  will  permit.  It 
is  a  treatment  commonly  resorted  to  in  Perak  when 
other  remedies  fail.  When,  however,  the  friends  of 
the  patient  decide  that  the  time  has  arrived  for  ber- 
hantu,  nothing  will  satisfy  them  but  to  have  it,  and 

if  the  sick  man  or  woman  dies  during  the  perform- 

152 


BER-HANTU 

ance,  there  is  still  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that 
everything  was  done  for  them  which  love  and  skill 
could  devise,  and  the  issue  was  with  God.  La- 
illahd  il- Allah,  Muhammad  Rasul- Allah — "  There  is 
but  one  God,  and  Muhammad  is  His  Prophet." 

This  pious  confession  of  faith  has,  however, 
nothing  to  do  with  the  ber-hantu;  it  comes  in  after- 
wards when  the  seal  of  death  is  so  evidently  on  the 
lips  of  the  sufferer  that  his  friends  cease  to  call  on 
the  Devil,  and  commend  the  soul  of  the  dying  man 
to  God.  The  ber-hantu  is,  of  course,  a  survival  of 
prae-Islam  darkness,  and  the  priests  abominate  it, 
or  say  they  do ;  but  they  have  to  be  a  little  careful, 
because  the  highest  society  affects  the  practice  of 
the  Black  Art. 

To  return  to  the  King's  house.  In  the  middle 
of  the  floor  was  spread  a  puddal,  a  small  narrow 
mat,  at  one  end  of  which  was  seated  a  middle-aged 
woman  dressed  like  a  man  in  a  short-sleeved 
jacket,  trousers,  a  sarong,  and  a  scarf  fastened 
tightly  round  her  waist.  At  the  other  end  of  the 
mat  was  a  large  newly-lighted  candle  in  a  candle- 
stick. Between  the  woman  and  the  taper  were  two 
or  three  small  vessels  containing  rice  coloured  with 
turmeric,  parched  padi,  and  perfumed  water.  An 
attendant  sat  near  at  hand. 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

The  woman  in  male  attire  was  the  Pdwang,  the 
Raiser  of  Spirits,  the  Witch,  not  of  Endor,  but  of 
as  great  repute  in  her  own  country  and  among  her 
own  people.  In  ordinary  life  she  was  an  amusing 
lady  named  Raja  Ngah,  a  scion  of  the  reigning 
house  on  the  female  side  and  a  member  of  a  family 
skilled  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  occultism.  In  a 
corner  of  the  room  were  five  or  six  girls  holding 
native  drums,  instruments  with  a  skin  stretched 
over  one  side  only,  and  this  is  beaten  usually  with 
the  fingers.  The  leader  of  this  orchestra  was  the 
daughter  of  Raja  Ngah. 

Shortly  after  I  sat  down,  the  proceedings  began 
by  the  Pdwang  covering  her  head  and  face  with  a 
silken  cloth,  while  the  orchestra  began  to  sing  a 
weird  melody  in  an  unknown  tongue.  I  was  told 
it  was  the  spirit  language ;  the  air  was  one  specially 
pleasing  to  a  particular  Jin,  or  Spirit,  and  the 
invocation,  after  reciting  his  praises,  besought  him 
to  come  from  the  mountains  or  the  sea,  from  under- 
ground or  overhead,  and  relieve  the  torments  of  the 
King. 

As  the  song  continued,  accompanied  by  the 
rhythmical  beating  of  the  drums,  the  Pdwang  sat 
with  shrouded  head  in  front  of  the  lighted  taper, 
holding  in  her  right  hand  against  her  left  breast  a 


BER-HANTU 

small  sheaf  of  the  grass  called  daun  sambau  tied 
tightly  together  and  cut  square  at  top  and  bottom. 

This  chddak  she  shook,  together  with  her  whole 
body,  by  a  stiffening  of  the  muscles,  while  all  eyes 
were  fixed  upon  the  taper. 

At  first  the  flame  was  steady,  but  by  and  by,  as 
the  singers  screamed  more  loudly  to  attract  the 
attention  of  the  laggard  Spirit,  the  wick  began  to 
quiver  and  flare  up,  and  it  was  manifest  to  the 
initiated  that  the  Jin  was  introducing  himself  into 
the  candle.  By  some  means  the  Pdwang,  who  was 
now  supposed  to  be  "  possessed "  and  no  longer 
conscious  of  her  actions,  became  aware  of  this,  and 
she  made  obeisance  to  the  taper,  sprinkling  the 
floor  round  it  with  saffron-coloured  rice  and  per- 
fumed water ;  then,  rising  to  her  feet  and  followed 
by  the  attendant,  she  performed  the  same  ceremony 
before  each  male  member  of  the  reigning  family 
present  in  the  room,  murmuring  all  the  while  a 
string  of  gibberish  addressed  to  the  Spirit.  This 
done,  she  resumed  her  seat  on  the  mat,  and,  after  a 
brief  pause,  the  minstrels  struck  up  a  different  air, 
and,  singing  the  praises  of  another  Jin,  called  upon 
him  to  come  and  relieve  the  King's  distress. 

I  ascertained  that  each  Malay  State  has  its  own 
special  Spirits,  each  district  is  equally  well  provided, 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

and  there  are  even  some  to  spare  for  special  indivi- 
duals. In  this  particular  State  there  are  four  prin- 
cipal Jin;  they  are  the  Jin  ka-rdja-an,  the  State 
Spirit — also  called  Junjong  dunia  uddra — Supporter 
of  the  Firmament  ;  Mdia  uddra,  the  Spirit  of  the 
Air;  Mahkota  si-raja  Jin,  the  Crown  of  Royal 
Spirits  ;  and  S'tan  Ali. 

These  four  are  known  as  Jin  druah,  Exalted 
Spirits,  and  they  are  the  guardians  of  the  Sultan 
and  the  State.  As  one  star  exceeds  another  in 
glory,  so  one  Jin  surpasses  another  in  renown,  and 
I  have  named  them  in  the  order  of  their  greatness. 
In  their  honour  four  white  and  crimson  umbrellas 
were  hung  in  the  room,  presumably  for  their  use 
when  they  arrived  from  their  distant  homes.  Only 
the  Sultan  of  the  State  is  entitled  to  traffic  with 
these  distinguished  Spirits  ;  when  summoned  they 
decline  to  move  unless  appealed  to  with  their  own 
special  invocations,  set  to  their  own  peculiar  music, 
sung  by  at  least  four  singers  and  led  by  a  Beduan 
(singer)  of  the  royal  family.  The  Jin  ka-rdja-an  is 
entitled  to  have  the  royal  drums  played  by  the  State 
drummers  if  his  presence  is  required,  but  the  other 
three  have  to  be  satisfied  with  the  instruments  I 
have  described. 

There  are  common  devils  who  look  after  common 
156 


BER-HANTU 

people  :  such  as  Hantu  Songkei,  Hantu  Maldyu  and 
Hantu  Elian;  the  last  the  "  Tiger  Devil/'  but  out 
of  politeness  he  is  called  "  Blian,"  to  save  his 
feelings. 

Then  there  is  Kemdla  ajdib,  the  "Wonderful 
Jewel/'  Israng,  Raja  Ngah's  special  familiar,  and  a 
host  of  others.  Most  hantu  have  their  own  special 
Pdwangs,  and  several  of  these  were  carrying  on 
similar  proceedings  in  adjoining  buildings,  in  order 
that  the  sick  monarch  might  reap  all  the  benefits  to 
be  derived  from  a  consultation  of  experts,  and,  as 
one  spirit  after  another  notified  his  advent  by  the 
upstarting  flame  of  the  taper,  it  was  impossible  not 
to  feel  that  one  was  getting  into  the  very  best 
society. 

Meanwhile  a  sixteen-sided  stand,  about  six  inches 
high  and  shaped  like  this  diagram,  had  been  placed 
on  the  floor  near  the  Pdwang's 
mat.    The  stand  was  decorated 
with  yellow  cloth  ;  in  its  centre 
stood     an     enormous     candle, 
while  round  it  were  gaily  de- 
corated    rice     and     toothsome 
delicacies    specially    prized    by   Jin.      There    was 
just   room   to  sit   on    this  stand,  which   is   called 
Petrdna  panchalogam  (meaning  a  seat  of  this  par- 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

ticular  shape),  and  the  Sultan,  supported  by  many 
attendants,  was  brought  out  and  sat  upon  it. 
A  veil  was  placed  on  his  head,  the  various  vessels 
were  put  in  his  hands,  he  spread  the  rice  round  the 
taper,  sprinkled  the  perfume,  and  having  received 
into  his  hand  an  enormous  chddak  of  grass,  calmly 
awaited  the  coming  of  the  Jin  Ka-rdja-an,  while  the 
minstrels  shouted  for  him  with  all  their  might. 

The  Sultan  sat  there  for  some  time,  occasionally 
giving  a  convulsive  shudder,  and  when  this  taper 
had  duly  flared  up  and  all  the  rites  had  been  per- 
formed, His  Highness  was  conducted  back  again  to 
his  couch,  and  the  Pdwang  continued  her  minis- 
trations alone. 

Whilst  striding  across  the  floor,  she  suddenly  fell 
down  as  though  shot,  and  it  was  explained  to  me 
that  Israng,  the  spirit  by  whom  she  was  possessed, 
had  seen  a  dish-cover,  and  that  the  sight  always 
frightened  him  to  such  an  extent  that  his  Pdwang 
fell  down.  The  cause  of  offence  was  removed,  and 
the  performance  continued. 

There  are  other  spirits  who  cannot  bear  the 
barking  of  a  dog,  the  mewing  of  a  cat,  and  so  on. 

Just  before  dawn  there  was  a  sudden  confusion 
within  the  curtains  which  hid  the  Sultan's  couch  ; 
they  were  thrown  aside,  and  there  lay  the  King,  to 


BER-HANTU 

all  appearance  in  a  swoon.  The  Jin  Ka-raja-an 
had  taken  possession  of  the  sick  body,  and  the  mind 
was  no  longer  under  its  owner's  control. 

For  a  little  while  there  was  great  excitement,  and 
then  the  King  recovered  consciousness,  was  carried 
to  a  side  verandah  and  a  quantity  of  cold  water 
poured  over  him. 

So  ended  the  seance. 

Shortly  after,  the  Sultan,  clothed  and  in  his  right 
mind,  sent  to  say  he  would  like  to  speak  to  me. 
He  told  me  he  took  part  in  this  ceremony  to  please 
his  people  and  because  it  was  a  very  old  custom, 
and  he  added,  "  I  did  not  know  you  were  there  till 
just  now ;  I  could  not  see  you  because  I  was  not 
myself  and  did  not  know  what  I  was  doing." 

The  King  did  not  die,  after  all — on  the  contrary, 
I  was  sent  for  twice  again  because  he  was  not 
expected  to  live  till  the  morning,  and  yet  he  cheated 
Death — for  a  time. 

That  reminds  me  of  the  banshee.  I  saw  it  sitting 
in  a  Malay  house  some  months  later,  and  they  told 
me  the  boys  had  caught  it,  that  it  was  an  owl,  and 
its  name  was  Toh  ka-tampi.  It  had  very  round, 
yellow  eyes,  and  there  was  no  mistake  about  the 
horns.  It  seems  that  with  Malays  it  is  an  ill- 
omened  bird,  the  herald  of  misfortune  and  death, 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

and  it  shares  this  reputation  with  two  other  owls, 
which  are  called  respectively  Tumbok  Idrong,  that  is 
"Nail  the  coffin,"  and  Chdrek  kafan,  "  Rend  the 
cloth  for  the  shroud."  Toh  ka-tampi  means  "  Old- 
man -winnow -the -rice -for -the -burial -feast."  The 
names  are  rather  gruesome,  and  are  said  to  be 
suggested  by  the  peculiar  cries  of  these  "  ghost 
birds." 


160 


XV 
THE   KING'S  WAY 

We  know  what  Heaven  or  Hell  may 

bring 
But  no  man  knoweth  the  mind   of 

the  King 

RUDYARD  KIPLING 

HE  was  the  Sultan  of  an  important  Malay  State, 
but  to  those  who  knew  him  best  he  was,  and 
will  remain,  "Craddock's  King,"  principally  because 
he  always  sent  for  Craddock  whenever  he  wanted 
anything  that  he  thought  needed  the  assistance  of 
a  European  officer,  and,  on  the  rare  occasions  when 
he  travelled  outside  his  own  dominions,  Craddock 
used  to  go  with  him  as  guide,  interpreter,  and  shield. 
The  King  was  one  with  whom  things  had  gone 
badly  until  the  appearance  of  the  white  man  in  his 
country.  His  character  had  not  endeared  him  to 
the  people,  who  should  have  been  his  subjects,  but 
were,  almost'  without  exception,  his  enemies ;  and 
the  consequence  was  that  when  he  ought  to  have 

161  L 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

been  elected  to  a  high  office,  and  later,  when  his 
birth  entitled  him  to  be  nominated  Sultan,  his 
claims  were  ignored  in  favour  of  junior  men.  Up 
to  the  age  of  fifty  or  more  he  had  passed  his  life 
in  poverty,  and  even  in  want,  and  often  in  open 
resistance  to  such  authority  as  existed.  These 
strained  relations  with  his  own  people  made  him 
loyal  to  the  British,  and  as  his  claims  were  indis- 
putable, and  the  opportunity  came  when  they  might 
be  satisfied,  he  at  last  attained  to  the  position 
which  was  his  by  right. 

I  will  try  to  draw  the  man  as  he  was  at  this 
time.  Tall  for  a  Malay,  rather  fair,  with  grey  hair 
and  a  white  moustache ;  very  broad-shouldered  and 
thick-set,  a  powerful  figure,  though  now  inclined 
to  over-stoutness  ;  a  firm,  upright  carriage ;  in  his 
face  an  exceeding  hauteur,  and  in  his  manner 
something  more  than  this — the  plain  evidence  of 
a  masterful  and  overbearing  disposition.  The 
strength  of  mind,  the  obstinacy  of  character, 
were  writ  large  in  both  face  and  figure;  while 
an  imperious  manner  was  accentuated  by  a  loud 
voice  and  impatient  speech,  caused  to  some  ex- 
tent by  the  difficulty  of  understanding  one  whose 
teeth  were  few,  and  whose  tongue  was  plainly 

over -large. 

162 


THE   KING'S   WAY 

The  King  affected  gay  colours,  and  his  appear- 
ance, when  he  took  his  walks  abroad,  was  striking, 
not  to  say  remarkable.  A  tartan  silk  jacket,  com- 
bining many  violent  colours  and  fastened  at  the 
neck  only,  clothed  his  body  ;  this  jacket  had  a  high 
collar  which  enclosed  the  wearer's  bull-neck  and 
reached  to  the  ears.  The  nether  garment  was  a 
pair  of  very  wide  and  loose  white  silk  trousers 
fastened  by  many  yards  of  a  scarlet  silk  waist- 
cloth.  These  trousers  reached  a  point  low  down  on 
the  calf  of  the  leg,  leaving  a  fair  expanse  of 
uncovered  limb  between  them  and  the  sky-blue 
canvas  shoes  which  encased  the  stockingless  feet. 
On  his  head,  tilted  rakishly  over  one  ear,  the  King 
wore  a  wonderful  round  bright  yellow  cap,  flat  on 
the  top  with  stiff  sides,  on  which  were  sewn,  in 
Arabic  characters  of  black  cloth,  a  verse  from  the 
Koran. 

In  his  waist-cloth  the  King  usually  carried  a  short 
knife  in  a  polished  wooden  sheath,  and  when  walk- 
ing he  leant  upon  a  spear  or  long  bamboo  stick. 
Both  hands  and  feet  were  white  with  an  unnatural 
and  mottled  whiteness,  caused,  His  Highness 
averred,  by  eating  the  flesh  of  the  white  buffalo, 
and,  in  walking,  the  toes  were  turned  out  to  such 
an  extent  as  to  give  a  decided  waddle. 

163 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

For  people  with  whom  loyalty  to  their  rajas  is 
an  article  of  faith,  the  dislike  in  which  the  King  was 
held  by  them  was  extraordinary.  It  is  charitable 
to  suppose  that  early  disappointment  had  embittered 
his  life,  for  he  possessed  good  qualities.  He  was 
undeniably  intelligent,  and  had  a  wider  knowledge  of 
his  country  and  its  ancient  customs  than  any  other 
man  in  it.  He  knew  his  own  mind,  was  deter- 
mined to  obstinacy,  and  asked  counsel  of  few.  He 
was  a  keen  sportsman,  courageous,  and,  having 
sought  the  friendship  of  the  British,  never  wavered 
in  his  loyalty.  If  it  be  said  that  in  this  he  con- 
sulted his  own  interest  and  knew  his  unpopularity 
with  his  own  people,  his  consistency  and  good 
faith  were  still  a  merit.  On  the  other  hand,  his 
defects  and  vices  were  numerous,  and  just  those 
likely  to  earn  him  the  dislike  of  Malays.  He  was 
incredibly  mean,  he  was  overbearing  to  cruelty, 
rapaciously  grasping,  jealous  of  the  good  fortune  of 
any  of  his  subjects,  selfish,  difficult  of  access,  and 
unconcerned  with  the  misfortunes  of  others ;  vin- 
dictive to  those  who  offended  him  or  opposed  his 
wishes,  a  gambler  who  nearly  always  contrived  to 
win,  and  in  matters  where  the  other  sex  were  con- 
cerned, decidedly  unreliable.  He  was  not  an  opium- 
smoker,  nor  was  he  in  any  sense  a  religious  man, 

164 


THE   KING'S   WAY 

and,  though  the  "  Defender  of  the  Faith  "  in  his  own 
country,  he  observed  none  of  its  outward  forms.  It 
cannot,  therefore,  be  said  that  he  was  i*1  good  odour 
with  the  priesthood  and  yet  one  of  his  firmest  friends 
— for  a  time — was  the  priest  of  the  neighbouring  vil- 
lage who,  whenever  a  witness  was  needed  to  support 
the  King  in  any  action  or  statement,  was  ready  both 
to  vouch  to  supposed  facts  and  prove  his  master's 
case  by  the  authority  of  Muhammadan  writings. 

The  constant  appeal  to  the  priest  for  justification 
and  the  persistence  with  which  this  man  found 
excellent  reasons  for  the  King's  peculiar  methods 
was  a  little  discouraging ;  but  there  came  an 
estrangement.  The  King,  accompanied  by  the 
priest  and  others,  visited  a  neighbouring  British 
possession,  stayed  there  some  days,  and  at  the 
moment  of  his  return  was  faced  by  a  serious 
indignity.  It  appeared  that  someone  in  this  place 
who  did  not  understand  the  King's  peculiarities  had, 
or  thought  he  had,  sold  to  His  Highness  a  tricycle 
and  a  musical-box  for  which  he  could  not  obtain 
payment,  and,  having  ascertained  that  the  King  was 
going  and  did  not  care  about  the  things,  this  mis- 
guided individual  somehow  obtained  a  sumrr~.,o 
against  His  Highness  to  appear  before  a  local 
tribunal  and  answer  to  the  plaint. 

165 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

The  King,  being  informed,  expressed  his  extreme 
unconcern,  and  said  that,  as  it  was  the  priest's  busi- 
ness and  his  only,  he  could  settle  it.  The  priest 
raised  the  amount  necessary  to  meet  the  bill,  and 
the  party  returned  to  their  own  State  with  the 
musical-box  and  tricycle. 

Then  "a  private  pique  arose"  between  King  and 
Priest  as  to  who  should  finally  pay  for  these  play- 
things. For  the  first  time  these  firm  friends 
appeared  in  opposition  to  each  other,  and  both 
parties  gave  their  respective  versions  of  the  trans- 
action before  a  highly  edified  and  delighted  Council 
of  Arbitration. 

First  the  King  :  He  knew  nothing  of  any  musical- 
box,  did  not  like  musical-boxes,  had  no  ear  for 
music,  and  did  not  understand  the  discordant 
noises  made  by  these  inventions  of  the  white  man. 
He  had  seen  a  thing  of  the  kind  in  his  house,  had 
heard  it,  had  even  himself  made  it  play  its  absurd 
tunes,  did  not  enjoy  it  in  the  least,  and  had  done  it 
without  thinking,  but  knew  it  would  please  the  priest 
as  he  had  bought  the  thing,  and  he  supposed  he 
would  not  have  done  so  unless  he  wanted  to  have 
it  played. 

As  for  the  tricycle,  how  in  the  name  of  misfortune 
could  a  tricycle  concern  him  ?  The  bare  idea  of  a 

166 


THE   KING'S   WAY 

man  of  his  age  and  figure  riding  a  tricycle  was 
enough  to  make  a  dog  bark  (and  here  His  Highness 
laughed  consumedly  at  the  spectacle  he  had  con- 
jured up).  Had  anyone  ever  seen  him  ride  a 
tricycle  ?  Where  was  he  going  to  ride  it  ?  Was 
it  on  the  sandy  shore  of  the  river  where  he  lived  ? 
and  if  not  there,  then  where  ?  He  understood  that 
tricycles  would  neither  go  through  the  jungle  nor 
across  padi  fields,  and,  if  he  were  to  take  "  the 
creature "  out  shooting,  he  supposed  it  would  not 
greatly  help  him  to  get  a  shot  at  a  bison  or  a 
rhinoceros.  Did  anyone  imagine  he  was  going  to 
carry  letters  ?  that  he  was  going  to  join  the  Post 
Office  ?  If  the  imputation  were  not  so  stupid  he 
could  almost  be  angry  with  the  priest,  a  man  whom 
he  had  heard  over  and  over  again  say  that  the  one 
thing  he  desired  was  a  tricycle,  something  on  which 
he  could  take  exercise,  and  at  the  same  time  get 
about  his  district.  He  had  even  asked  him,  the 
King,  to  lend  him  money  to  buy  the  machine,  but 
he  had  no  money  to  lend  and  tried  to  dissuade  the 
man  because  he  thought  that  in  his  inexperience  he 
might  fall  and  hurt  himself.  Malays  did  not  under- 
stand things  that  ran  on  three  wheels  without  ever 
a  horse  or  a  bullock,  or  even  a  buffalo  to  pull  them. 
He  saw  the  tricycle  lying  under  his  house,  and  he 

167 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

heard  the  priest  haggling  with  someone  about  the 
price,  but  he  would  take  any  oath  that  the  priest  or 
anyone  else  could  devise  that  he  had  never  set  eyes 
on  the  man  who  sold  the  thing.  All  he  knew  was 
that  he  had  been  insulted  by  the  issue  of  a  sum- 
mons because  of  the  priest's  extravagant  tastes, 
and,  while  any  one  who  liked  might  pay,  it  would  not 
be  he. 

Then  the  Priest : 

Long  before  they  left  the  State,  His  Highness 
told  him  that  when  they  made  this  visit  it  was  his 
desire  to  purchase  a  musical-box  (in  the  sweet 
strains  of  which  his  soul  delighted)  and  a  tricycle, 
the  beautiful  three-wheeled  silent  carriage  which 
cost  little  to  start  with  and  nothing  to  keep,  wanted 
no  horses,  nor  harness,  nor  expensive  and  imperti- 
nent horse-keepers,  which  never  shied  at  bullock- 
carts  or  ran  away  from  elephants,  and  which  lasted 
through  the  lives  of  many  beasts.  Therefore,  he, 
the  priest,  the  obedient  slave  of  the  King,  had 
sought  the  sweet-voiced  box  and  the  stomachless 
carriage,  and  after  much  difficulty  he  had  found 
them.  By  the  express  order  of  the  King  the  priest 
had  bidden  the  owners  bring  them  to  the  house  in 
which  the  King  was  lodging,  and  there  the  whole 

details    of    the    two    transactions    were    arranged. 

168 


THE   KING'S   WAY 

The  people  who  trafficked  in  these  goods  could  not 
be  taken  into  the  presence  of  his  master,  and,  in- 
deed, the  King  had  expressly  declined  to  see  them 
(was  not  the  King  all-wise  ?),  but  they  had  been 
brought  into  a  room  of  the  house  across  which 
hung  a  heavy  curtain,  and  while  he,  the  priest,  dis- 
cussed the  terms  with  the  seller  on  one  side,  the 
King  sat  on  the  other,  and  not  only  heard  all  that 
was  said,  but  in  the  end,  when  the  priest  went 
behind  the  curtain  to  consult  his  royal  master,  had 
expressed  his  entire  approval  of  the  price,  only 
stipulating  that  he  should  first  hear  the  box  sing 
and  ride  the  stomachless  horse.  This  he  had 
arranged  with  some  little  difficulty,  because  the 
sellers  were  needy  men  and  wanted  the  money ; 
moreover,  they  seemed  to  distrust  his  master,  the 
King,  for  some  reason  which  he  could  not  fathom. 
But  he  arranged  that  the  singing-box  and  the  seat 
on  three  wheels  should  stay  with  his  master  for  four 
days,  and  that  then  they  should  be  returned  or  paid 
for ;  those  were  the  orders  of  the  King.  So  they 
stayed,  and  the  King  turned  the  handle  of  the  box 
and  made  it  sing,  or,  more  often,  from  prayer-time 
to  prayer-time  he,  the  priest,  had  to  turn  the  handle 
and  make  music,  and  the  King  drank  in  the  sound 
and  was  glad.  As  for  the  three  wheels,  they  lay 

169 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

under  the  house,  and  the  King  looked  upon  the 
machine  and  said  it  was  good  and  cheap  and  would 
eat  nothing. 

These  are  the  words  of  the  Priest :  "The  four 
days  went  by  and  the  men  came  to  be  paid,  and  I 
told  my  master,  but  he  seemed  to  be  busy  with 
other  things,  and  I  sent  them  away  to  come  again 
the  next  day.  In  this  way  the  time  passed  till  the 
day  for  our  departure,  and  I  knew  the  men  who 
owned  the  box  and  the  carriage  were  angry,  but  I 
saw  my  master  wanted  the  things.  When  at  last 
the  trouble  came,  and  the  King  said  it  was  not  his 
business  but  mine,  I  told  the  men  they  could  take 
the  box  and  the  carriage  back  because  they  did  not 
please  the  King,  but  they  would  not,  and  I  was 
afraid  lest  shame  should  come  on  my  master,  and  I 
went  out  and  borrowed  the  money  and  paid  it. 
Could  I,  who  am  a  priest,  play  with  a  box  that  sings 
not  of  God  nor  the  Prophet  ?  Can  I,  who  am  a  poor 
man,  who  only  live  to  pray  and  to  preach,  to  exhort 
the  living  and  to  bury  the  dead,  can  I  ride  on  the 
stomachless  horse  with  three  wheels,  I  whose  duty 
is  in  the  mosque  and  by  the  grave  ?  My  master 
the  King  knows  that  in  this  thing  as  in  others  I 
have  but  obeyed  the  voice  of  my  master." 

So  Church  and  State  quarrelled,  and  the  priest 
170 


THE   KING'S   WAY 

found  no  more  favour  in  the  sight  of  the  King. 
But  there  were  many  who  said  : 

"Sfyerti  Nasruan  dengan  Bahtek 
Ber-sdtu  rangkesa 
Ber-cherei  jddi  sentosa." 

"They  are  like  Raja  Nasruan  and  his  minister 
Bahtek ;  their  union  brought  ruin,  their  divorce 
solace."  Indeed,  it  was  the  opportunity  of  the 
proverb-monger,  and  such  sayings  as,  "It  is  some- 
times one's  own  forefinger  which  pokes  one  in  the 
eye,"  and,  "  While  you  carry  the  Raja's  business  on 
your  head,  don't  forget  to  keep  your  own  under 
your  arm,"  were  heard  on  all  sides. 

The  King  had  a  clerk  who  had  served  him  faith- 
fully for  twenty  years  or  more.  The  clerk  had  a 
wife,  and  the  King's  eye  fell  upon  her  approvingly; 
so  the  King  sent  the  clerk  into  a  far  country  to 
chase  a  wild  bird,  and  bestowed  his  favour  upon  the 
wife  who  remained  under  his  care.  The  King  also 
bestowed  upon  the  lady  sundry  jewels  of  price, 
things  that  please  poor  heathen  women  with  hardly 
any  moral  character  and  no  education  to  speak  of. 

By-and-by  the  King  got  tired  of  the  woman,  as 
unprincipled  Eastern  kings  will  do,  and  he  sought 
about  for  some  means,  not  to  rid  himself  of  her, 

171 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

that  was  simple  enough,  but  to  get  back  his  gifts 
(for  they  would  serve  again  as  they  had  done 
already)  and  at  the  same  time  to  throw  a  little  dust 
in  the  eyes  of  the  clerk,  who  was  known  to  be  on 
his  way  back.  Accordingly,  a  youth  of  no  account 
was  arrested  by  the  King's  people,  and  charged  with 
carrying  on  a  liaison  with  the  lady  during  the 
absence  of  her  husband.  The  crime  was,  of  course, 
aggravated  by  the  fact  that  she  was  under  the 
special  protection  of  the  King  !  The  clear  proof  of 
guilt  was  the  alleged  possession  by  the  woman  of  a 
sarong*  belonging  to  the  man. 

This  charge  was  sufficient  ground  for  the  display 
of  royal  displeasure,  and  procured  the  restitution  of 
the  jewels,  but  it  failed  to  convince  anyone  that  the 
man  accused  by  the  King  had  done  any  wrong,  and, 
in  spite  of  the  strenuous  exertions  of  His  Highness 
to  get  the  man  banished  from  the  country,  nothing 
was  done  to  him.  The  plan,  therefore,  miscarried 
to  some  extent,  and  when  the  clerk  returned  it  is 
probable  that  he  learnt  the  facts,  for  he  declined  to 
further  serve  the  King,  and  even  said  bluntly  things 
about  his  late  master  that  were  not  altogether  loyal. 

I  have  elsewhere  stated  that  Malays  try  to  wipe 

*  The  Sdrong  is  the  Malay  national  garment,  a  sort  of  skirt, 
usually  in  tartan,  worn  by  men  and  women  alike. 

172 


THE   KING'S   WAY 

out,  what  in  their  uncivilised  minds  they  count  as 
dishonour,  in  a  savage  and  bloodthirsty  fashion,  but 
this  does  not  apply  when  the  offender  is  a  raja  and 
the  injured  man  of  lesser  rank.  The  person  of  a 
raja  is  sacred  to  a  Malay,  and  if  he  feels  that  he 
has  been  disgraced  beyond  bearing,  the  result  will 
probably  be,  sooner  or  later,  an  access  of  blind  fury 
resulting  in  a  case  of  amok. 

The  King  had  as  many  wives  as  the  Muhammadan 
law  permitted,  and,  as  his  country  possessed  the 
infinite  blessing  of  a  civil  list  which  limited  his  own 
income,  he  was  always  anxious  that  whenever  he 
took  to  himself  a  new  wife  she  should  receive  an 
allowance  from  the  State.  His  Highness  made  a 
special  point  of  this  grant  to  the  ladies,  because  he 
said  the  knowledge  that  if  they  divorced  him  or 
compelled  him  to  divorce  them  they  would  lose  the 
allowance,  had  an  excellent  effect  on  their  behaviour. 
He  had  succeeded  in  securing  allowances  for  several 
wives,  when  a  new  lady,  named  Raja  Sarefa,  con- 
sented to  share  the  royal  smiles,  and  the  King 
immediately  applied  on  her  behalf  for  the  usual 
civil  list.  The  application,  however,  was  not  suc- 
cessful, though  several  times  renewed. 

Then  the  King  fell  ill  of  some  fell  disease  that 
no  native  medicine-man  could  diagnose,  and  the 

i73 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

evil  spirit,  with  which  he  seemed  to  be  troubled, 
had  its  will  of  him,  so  that  all  men  said  the  King 
must  die. 

During  an  interval  of  temporary  return  to  con- 
sciousness, when  for  a  few  hours  the  patient 
seemed  to  have  a  rest  from  the  attacks  of  the 
tormentor,  he  ordered  that  a  young  nephew  should 
be  sent  for,  also  a  divorced  wife  of  his  own,  and  a 
priest.  Then,  against  the  earnest  wishes  of  both 
parties,  he  insisted  upon  these  young  people  being 
married  in  his  presence,  and  shortly  after  relapsed 
into  his  former  state. 

After  weeks  of  torment,  when  every  day  seemed 
certain  to  be  his  last,  the  iron  constitution  prevailed, 
and  the  King  recovered.  In  the  first  days  of  his 
convalescence  I  went  to  see  him,  and  found  him 
lying  on  his  bed,  in  his  eyes  the  light  of  conscious- 
ness and  intelligence,  and  sitting  by  him  the  wife, 
Raja  Sarefa. 

He  was  weak,  spoke  slowly  and  in  a  small  voice, 
but  said  that  by  God's  grace  he  only  wanted  time 
to  regain  his  strength.  After  expressing  my  thank- 
fulness at  seeing  him  so  well  on  the  way  to 
recovery,  I  said  that  I  had  often  been  over  to  see 
him  when  he  was  ill,  and  that  the  Raja  Sarefa  had 
tended  him  with  extraordinary  devotion,  never 

174 


THE   KING'S   WAY 

seeming  to  leave  his  bedside.  At  once  he  said, 
"  You  noticed  that,  did  you  ?  "  I  replied  that  I  had 
been  very  much  struck  by  her  care  of  him.  "I  was 
blind/'  he  said ;  "  I  do  not  know  what  happened, 
but  I  am  very  glad  you  remarked  how  carefully 
Sarefa  nursed  me,  and  that  you  have  mentioned  it, 
for  now  you  will  recognise  that  she  ought  to  have 
an  allowance." 

In  the  presence  of  the  lady,  even  though  she  did 
not  raise  her  eyes  from  the  floor,  it  was  difficult  not 
to  recognise  that,  if  curses  come  home  to  roost, 
blessings  sometimes  go  astray. 

After  a  respite  of  eighteen  months,  the  evil  spirit 
again  took  possession  of  the  King,  and  this  time 
made  short  work  of  him. 

The  scientific  explanation,  deriding  the  evil-spirit 
theory,  said  that  a  tumour  on  the  brain,  caused  by 
no  matter  what,  accounted  for  the  first  attack,  and 
that  as  sometimes,  but  rarely,  happens,  the  growth 
was  for  a  time  arrested,  the  tumour  contracted,  and 
the  pressure  on  the  brain  was  removed.  But  the 
mischief  was  there,  and  a  sudden  rapid  development 
of  the  disease  brought  on  a  return  of  the  symptoms, 
a  violent  but  hopeless  struggle,  and  death. 

It  is  the  custom  in  the  country  of  which  I  now 
write  to,  in  a  manner,  canonise  its  Sultans.  At  the 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

burial,  when  the  moment  arrives  for  carrying  the 
body  to  the  place  of  sepulture,  the  dead  man  is 
given  a  new  name,  by  which  he  is  ever  afterwards 
known.  That  name  is  chosen  with  some  reference 
to  his  earthly  life.  Thus,  there  is  Al-merhum  or 
Merhum  Pasir  Panjang  (that  is,  "The  Sultan  who 
died  at  Pasir  Panjang"),  Merhum  Kahar- Allah 
("  The  late  Sultan  to  whom  God  gave  strength  "), 
and  so  on. 

When  this  King  was  buried,  the  name  conferred 
upon  him  was  Merhum  Rafir- Allah,  and  the  meaning 
is,  "  May  God  pardon  him." 

NOTE. — Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  read  the 
following  in  the  Home  News  : 

"In  the  Lord  Mayor's  Court  on  Oct.  14,  before 
the  Assistant  Judge  and  a  jury,  the  case  of  '  Fischer 
v.  Brown'  was  concluded.  This  (says  the  Times) 
was  an  action  brought  by  Fischer  and  Co.,  a  firm 
of  Bombay  merchants,  to  recover  from  Messrs. 
Brown,  Saville,  and  Co.,  who  carry  on  business  in 
this  country,  the  sum  of  £73,  money  paid  by  the 
plaintiffs  to  the  defendants,  for  which  they  had 
received  no  consideration.  It  appeared  that  in  July, 
1892,  the  plaintiffs  received  an  order  for  a  special 
perambulator,  which  was  to  be  given  to  His  Highness 

176 


THE   KING'S   WAY 

Tikah  Sahib,  Rajah  of  Patalia,  as  a  birthday  present 
by  his  secretary,  Sham  Shir  Sing.  The  perambu- 
lator was  to  be  painted  dark  green  and  old  gold, 
which  were  the  colours  of  the  Rajah,  and  there  was 
to  be  a  good  strong  musical-box  under  the  seat,  and 
also  an  automatic  arrangement  by  which  the  per- 
ambulator, on  being  wound  up,  would  run  by  itself. 
This  order  was  given  to  the  defendants  by  the 
plaintiffs  on  July  4,  and  the  perambulator  was  to 
be  ready  for  shipment  to  Bombay  by  Aug.  15,  in 
order  that  it  should  reach  the  Rajah  by  Oct.  I, 
which  was  the  date  of  his  birthday.  The  defendants 
did  not  finish  the  work  in  time,  and  the  Rajah's 
birthday  had  passed  before  the  present  arrived,  and 
then  the  secretary  refused  to  take  it,  and  it  had  to 
be  sent  back.  In  the  meantime  the  defendants  had 
drawn  a  bill  upon  the  plaintiffs  for  the  price  of  the 
perambulator,  and  this  the  plaintiffs  had  accepted 
and  had  paid  the  money,  which  they  were  now 
suing  to  recover.  For  the  defence  it  was  stated 
that  the  cause  of  the  delay  in  delivering  the  per- 
ambulator was  Mr.  F.  Fischer's  interference.  The 
wheels  and  springs  of  the  perambulator,  it  had 
been  agreed,  should  be  electro-plated,  but  when 
Mr.  Fischer  heard  this  he  said  it  would  not  suit  the 

Rajah,  and  they  must  be  gilded.      He  was  told  this 

177  M 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

could  not  be  done  in  time,  and  it  was  implied  by 
the  orders  he  gave  (which  were  that  the  perambu- 
lator should  have  elephant- headed  handles  and 
papier-mache*  figures  of  elephants  and  peacocks) 
that  a  further  allowance  of  time  would  be  given. 
The  jury  found  a  verdict  for  the  plaintiffs  for  the 
amount  claimed." 


178 


XVI 
A   MALAY   ROMANCE 

Every  heart  in  which  heaven  has  set 
the  lamp  of  love,  whether  that  heart 
inclines  to  Mosque  or  Synagogue,  if 
its  name  be  written  in  the  Book  of 
Love  it  is  freed  from  the  fear  of  Hell, 
and  the  hope  of  Paradise 

JUSTIN  MCCARTHY'S  Omar 
Khayyam 

A  QUARTER  of  a  century  ago  there  lived  on 
•**•  the  bank  of  a  broad  river,  just  at  the  point 
where  stream  meets  tide,  a  Malay  Raja  and  his 
youthful  wife.  She  has  been  dead  for  twenty 
years,  but  in  this  land  of  brief  regrets  her  memory 
is  still  green,  the  fame  of  her  wit  and  beauty  has 
become  a  byword  with  the  people. 

She  was  a  girl  of  royal  descent ;  her  name,  Raja 
Maimunah.  Exceeding  fair,  for  a  Malay,  slight  but 
graceful  in  figure,  with  very  small  hands  and  feet, 
an  oval  face  and  splendid  eyes,  glistening  blue- 
white  wells  in  which  floated,  lotus-like,  the  dark 

iris,   flashing    or    wooing   in    changeful   expression 

179 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

from  wide-open  or  half-closed  lids  deeply  shaded  by 
long  black  lashes.  Her  nose  was  small,  straight, 
and  well  cut,  and  the  curved  smiling  lips  disclosed 
teeth  of  perfect  shape  and  singular  whiteness.  In 
either  cheek  a  dimple,  lesong  matiy  as  the  Malays 
call  it,  the  dimple  which  so  fascinates  the  beholder 
that  it  will  lure  him  even  unto  death.  Her  jet- 
black  hair,  fringing  the  forehead  in  an  oval  frame, 
was  drawn  straight  back  over  the  well-shaped  head 
and  fastened  in  a  simple  knot  with  four  ruby-studded 
hairpins  ;  the  heads  firmly  fixed  against  one  side  of 
the  coil,  while  the  golden  points  protruded  for  an 
inch  or  more  beyond  the  other. 

Her  dress  was  that  worn  by  all  ladies  of  rank, 
and  usually  consisted  of  a  silk  skirt  of  softly- 
blended  colours  reaching  to  the  ankles  and  fastened 
at  the  waist  by  a  belt  with  a  large  golden  buckle. 
The  only  other  garment  was  a  satin  jacket  of  some 
dark  colour  on  which  were  stitched  cunningly- 
wrought  designs  of  beaten  gold.  This  jacket  had 
a  tight  collar,  and  the  close-fitting  sleeves  were 
fastened  by  a  long  row  of  jewelled  buttons  reaching 
almost  from  wrist  to  elbow  ;  it  was  loose  at  the 
waist  and  just  covered  the  belt.  Tiny  heelless 
shoes,  embroidered  with  gold  and  silver  thread, 

completed  the  attire. 

180 


A   MALAY   ROMANCE 

When  out  of  doors,  the  Raja  Maimtinah  would 
wear  a  veil  of  darkest  blue,  black  or  white  gossamer 
embroidered  with  very  narrow  gold  ribbon,  a  most 
becoming  head-dress,  the  product  of  Arabian  skill. 
Over  this,  again,  was  held  coquettishly,  to  conceal 
the  face  from  male  eyes,  a  scarf  of  rich  Malay-red 
silk,  heavy  with  interwoven  threads  of  gold,  while 
one  or  two  more  silken  sarongs  of  varying  colour 
and  richness  of  material  were  worn  over  the  under- 
skirt. 

Jewels  depend  upon  the  wealth  and  station  of 
the  wearer,  but  Maimunah's  jacket  was  fastened 
with  buttons  that  matched  the  hairpins.  She  was 
seldom  seen  without  diamond  solitaires  in  the  ears 
and  a  number  of  diamond  rings  on  her  fingers, 
while  on  State  occasions  she  wore  heavy  gold 
bangles  on  her  wrists  and  one  or  more  gold  neck- 
laces. 

I  cannot  draw  an  equally  attractive  picture  of 
Raja  Iskander,  the  husband  of  this  lady.  He  was 
about  thirty  years  of  age,  while  she  was  one-and- 
twenty.  He  was  short  and  spare  for  a  Malay,  and 
his  distinguishing  features  were  a  large  ugly  mouth 
with  a  downward  turn  at  the  corners  and  an  almost 
perpetual  expression  of  extreme  discontent. 

His    vanity    was   inordinate,    his    extravagance 
181 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

continually  led  him  into  difficulty,  and  he  smoked 
opium  to  excess  and  to  the  neglect  of  all  his  duties 
and  his  interests  ;  moreover,  he  lacked  courage,  and 
sought  counsel  from  men  of  no  standing,  whose  only 
thought  was  their  own  profit. 

A  Malay  Raja  has  many  wives.  He  begins 
early  and  rings  the  changes  often,  until  (especially 
if  he  have  pretensions  to  become  ultimately  the 
ruler  of  his  country,  as  was  the  case  with  Iskander) 
his  relatives  decide  that  he  should  marry  a  lady 
of  his  own  rank.  Then,  if  he  is  young,  her 
people  usually  insist  that  any  wife  he  has  must 
be  divorced,  and,  that  done,  the  marriage  takes 
place. 

At  the  time  of  which  I  write,  Raja  Iskander  had 
been  married  to  Maimunah  for  about  three  years  ; 
she  was  the  mother  of  two  children,  but  her  husband 
thought  he  had  good  reason  to  doubt  her  fidelity, 
and  he  was  palpably  neglecting  her  for  a  concubine. 
That  he  should  have  other  wives  or  concubines  was 
of  course  only  what  she  had  been  educated  to 
expect,  and,  in  acting  on  his  right,  Raja  Iskander 
was  simply  following  the  practice  of  his  ancestors 
and  the  custom  of  the  country.  The  Muhammadan 
law  is  nevertheless  extremely  strict  in  its  injunctions 

that  all  wives  are  to  be  treated  with  equal  considera- 

182 


A   MALAY   ROMANCE 

tion,  and,  while  their  claims  are  clear,  the  concubine 
has  none.  To  neglect  a  wife  for  a  concubine  is  a 
dire  offence  to  Malay  women,  and  the  slight  is  enor- 
mously exaggerated  when  the  wife  is  of  high  birth, 
and  the  favourite  only  a  woman  of  the  people. 

The  house  where  Raja  Iskander  then  lived  was 
within  a  hundred  feet  of  the  bank  of  the  stream,  an 
unattractive  spot  fifty  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  but  yet  not  far  enough  to  escape  the  tidal 
influence  and  the  unlovely  accompaniments  of  turbid 
water,  muddy  banks,  and  flat  surroundings.  Raja 
Iskander  passed  a  good  deal  of  his  time  in  boats, 
the  lazy  life  suited  him  and  his  habits,  and,  instead 
of  having  to  provide  a  house  for  each  of  the  ladies 
in  his  harem,  he  supplied  a  boat.  That  was  much 
more  economical,  and  economy  was  an  object,  for, 
like  many  people  with  extravagant  tastes,  his 
extravagance  was  purely  selfish. 

The  boats  lay  in  the  river  in  front  of  the  house, 
and  as  Raja  Iskander's  presence  was  the  excuse  for 
a  rendezvous  of  all  the  gamblers,  cock-fighters,  and 
opium-smokers  of  the  neighbourhood,  a  good  many 
boats  besides  his  own  were  always  in  attendance. 

Amongst  the  visitors  attracted  to  this  spot  at  this 
time  was  a  man  called  Raja  Sleman,  a  stranger  from 
a  neighbouring  State. 

183 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

It  might  have  been  the  cock-fighting  or  the 
gambling  always  to  be  found  in  the  society  of  Raja 
Iskander  that  drew  Raja  Sleman  to  the  place.  It 
might  also  have  been  the  congenial  society  of 
another  opium-smoker,  or  possibly  the  fame  of  Raja 
Maimunah's  attractions.  Whatever  the  lodestone, 
Raja  Sleman  appeared  with  two  boats  and  about 
fifteen  followers,  and,  once  arrived,  he  elected  to 
remain. 

Raja  Iskander  passed  most  of  his  time  on  the 
water,  but  Maimunah  lived  in  the  house  on  shore. 
A  very  modest  dwelling  it  was  ;  a  building  of  mat 
sides  and  thatched  roof  raised  from  the  damp  and 
muddy  earth  on  wooden  piles,  a  flight  of  steps  led 
into  the  front  of  the  house  and  a  ladder  served  for 
exit  at  the  back.  The  interior  accommodation  con- 
sisted of  a  closed-in  verandah,  one  large  room,  and 
a  kitchen  tacked  on  behind. 

The  edges  of  the  muddy  river  were  fringed  by  the 
nipah  palm,  which  is  never  seen  beyond  tidal  influ- 
ences ;  the  banks  were  covered  by  rank  grasses, 
the  country  was  flat  and  desolate,  the  jungle  insig- 
nificant, and  in  the  heat  of  the  day  the  oppression 
of  steaming  mud  and  shelterless  plain  was  so  great 
that  sleep  seemed  to  force  itself  on  insect,  reptile, 

and  every  living  thing. 

184 


A   MALAY   ROMANCE 

At  night  the  myriads  of  fireflies  sparkling  in  the 
riverside  bushes,  their  twinkling  lights  reflected  in 
the  water,  gave  some  relief  to  tii:ed  eyes  ;  but  the 
gain  in  the  change  of  temperature  and  scene  was 
hardly  appreciated  when  the  mosquitoes  and  sand- 
flies  began  their  merciless  attacks. 

Under  such  circumstances  and  amidst  such 
surroundings,  Raja  Sleman  came  into  the  life  of 
Maimunah. 

He  was  about  the  same  age  as  Raja  Iskander, 
but  in  other  respects  there  was  a  striking  difference 
between  the  two  men.  Sleman  was  a  man  of 
pleasing  features,  extremely  quiet,  and  of  courtly 
manners  ;  the  casual  observer  would  probably  fail 
to  realise  that  this  outward  appearance  concealed  a 
firm  determination  and  a  dauntless  courage.  Of 
worldly  goods  he  had  little  enough,  and  small 
prospect  of  multiplying  them,  but  in  rank  he  was 
almost,  if  not  quite,  the  equal  of  Raja  Iskander. 

One  day  as  Sleman  sat  in  his  boat  he  saw 
Maimunah  and  her  maidens  come  down  to  the  river 
to  bathe.  In  his  country  he  had  never  beheld  a 
woman  as  beautiful  as  this  one,  and  he  fell  hope- 
lessly in  love  with  Iskander's  wife.  Then  each  day 
he  watched  for  her,  and  never  failed,  morning  and 
evening,  to  follow  her  with  his  eyes  for  the  few 

'85 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

moments  when  she  slowly  wended  her  way  from 
house  to  river  and  back  again. 

Meanwhile,  MaimOnah,  suffering  from  the  spretce 
injuria  formce  and  chafing  under  the  monotony  of 
existence,  had  heard  all  about  the  arrival  of  Sleman 
and  readily  listened  to  the  tales  of  his  valorous 
deeds.  Soon  she  began  to  look  for  him,  and  as  he 
was  ever  watching  for  her  coming  it  was  not  long 
before  their  eyes  met.  He  pleased  her,  and,  when 
she  saw  in  his  face  the  admiration  he  had  no  desire 
to  conceal,  she  would  drop  the  covering  that  hid  all 
but  her  eyes,  and  what  he  then  beheld  only  increased 
his  passion. 

Malay  ladies  are  adepts  in  speaking  the  language 
of  the  eyes,  the  chances  of  verbal  speech  are  but 
few,  and  so  carefully  is  this  art  cultivated,  so 
thoroughly  understood,  that  principals  and  witnesses 
never  fail  to  rightly  interpret  the  signs. 

Sleman  and  Maimunah  had  already  mutually 
declared  themselves  without  the  exchange  of  a 
syllable,  and  it  was  with  perfect  confidence  that 
Sleman  sought  a  closer  intimacy  by  the  friendly  aid 
of  a  messenger. 

Iskander  was  too  much  engaged  with  his  opium 
and  his  latest  favourite,  too  generally  satisfied  with 

himself,  to  notice  what  was  going   on.      Had  he 

1 86 


A   MALAY   ROMANCE 

realised  the  state  of  affairs  he  would  not  have  been 
indifferent  to  the  disgrace  that  must  be  his,  should 
his  wife's  liaison  become  public  property.  It  is  un- 
likely that  he  had  any  suspicion  of  Sleman,  but,  if 
he  had,  it  would  never  occur  to  him  that  any  man 
would  have  the  courage  to  do  more  than  carry  on  a 
clandestine  intrigue,  and  of  that  he  suspected  Mai- 
munah  had  already  been  guilty.  Least  of  all  would 
it  seem  possible  for  a  foreigner  supported  by  a 
dozen  followers  to  brave  the  power  and  resentment 
of  well  nigh  the  greatest  chief  of  a  powerful  State. 

In  this,  however,  he  was  misled  by  the  suave 
manners  of  the  quiet  stranger. 

Sleman's  suit  prospered,  and  he  was  not  satisfied 
to  continue  indefinitely  filling  the  role  of  false  friend 
to  Iskander  and  fearful  lover  to  his  wife.  However 
much  he  despised  the  man,  however  easily  he  found 
he  could  profit  by  Iskander's  indifference,  he  meant 
to  play  a  bolder  game  and  make  Maimunah  his  own 
at  all  hazards  if  she  were  prepared  to  face  the  risk. 

Her  courage  was  equal  to  his  own  (for  failure 
meant  probably  death  to  her  as  to  him),  and  one 
night,  while  Iskander  lay  in  his  boat  dreaming  over 
his  opium-pipe,  the  stranger  was  carrying  off  his 
royal  spouse  within  earshot,  almost  from  under  his 
very  eyes. 

187 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

Once  in  Sleman's  boat,  and  the  bark  had  been 
silently  unmoored  and  allowed  to  drift  out  of  sight 
and  hearing,  little  time  was  lost  in  getting  out  the 
oars  and  pulling  with  might  and  main  down  river 
towards  the  coast. 

All  night  long  the  rowers  bent  to  their  work, 
but  when  morning  broke  and  less  than  half  the 
distance  to  the  river's  mouth  had  been  traversed, 
Sleman  ordered  the  men  to  pull  in  to  the  bank, 
fasten  up  the  boat  and  rest. 

It  seemed  a  foolhardy  proceeding  to  waste  the  pre- 
cious time,  for  with  the  dawn  the  elopement  would  be 
discovered  and  Iskander  would  be  in  pursuit  before 
the  sun  had  cleared  the  tops  of  the  jungle  trees. 

Raja  Sleman's  quiet  serenity  was  not  disturbed 
by  anticipations  of  capture  or  fear  of  the  outraged 
husband's  fury.  On  the  contrary,  he  procured  a 
small  boat  and  a  messenger,  and  he  indited  a  letter 
to  Raja  Iskander,  informing  him  he  had  carried 
away  the  Raja  Maimunah,  but  that  he  had  not 
gone  far,  having  only  reached  the  place  he  named. 
He  added  that  he  would  wait  there  for  one  night 
and  one  day  against  the  coming  of  any  who  might 
wish  to  try  and  take  the  lady  from  him,  and  that 
after  that  time  he  should  continue  his  journey  to 
the  coast  and  thence  to  his  own  country. 

188 


A   MALAY   ROMANCE 

Raja  Iskander  received  this  missive  whilst  yet 
undecided  what  course  to  take  in  the  untoward 
disaster  that  had  befallen  him.  The  letter  did  not 
greatly  help  him  to  arrive  at  a  decision,  and  he  was 
still  discussing  with  his  chiefs  who  should  have 
the  honour  of  pursuing  and  punishing  the  abductor 
when  the  twenty-four  hours  expired. 

Neither  Iskander  nor  any  of  his  people  ever 
started  on  that  quest,  and  Raja  Sl£man  carried 
Maimunah  in  safety  to  his  own  country. 

The  disconsolate  husband,  whose  ideas  were  in 
accord  with  a  civilisation  beyond  the  education  or 
sympathetic  comprehension  of  his  subjects,  decided 
to  divorce  his  faithless  wife  and  leave  her  lover  to 
marriage  and  the  punishment  of  his  own  con- 
science. It  is  a  painful  fact  that  this  conduct 
earned  him  not  the  admiration  but  the  contempt 
of  his  people. 

Iskander  had  one  revenge  :  he  discovered  amongst 
Maimunah's  women  two  who  had  carried  messages 
between  the  lovers.  One  was  a  woman  of  twenty- 
five,  the  other  a  girl  of  fourteen,  and  both  were  in- 
continently strangled. 

As  for  Sleman  and  Maimunah,  they  were  duly 
married,  and  she  bore  him  a  daughter  in  all  respects 
like  her  mother,  though  not,  the  old  people  say,  her 

189 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

peer   in    beauty.     The  laudator  temporis  acti  is  a 
common  and  flourishing  plant  in  Malaya. 

In  the  two  children  born  before  the  elopement,  it 
is  difficult  to  trace  any  resemblance  to  their  mother. 

Maimunah  died  years  and  years  ago,  the  victim 
of  a  malignant  disease  ;  but  Sleman  still  lives  in  his 
own  country,  his  hair  is  getting  grey,  but  otherwise 
he  shows  few  signs  of  age.  Time  has  only  inten- 
sified the  courteous  bearing  and  quiet  repose  of 
manner  which  seem  to  fitly  accompany  his  gentle 
winning  voice ;  no  one  would  suspect  that  this 
man,  almost  single-handed,  carried  off  the  chief 
spouse  of  an  Oriental  prince,  and  then  defied  the 
whole  country  to  take  her  from  him. 

There  are  no  local  bards  to  record  Sleman's  story 
in  deathless  song,  and  the  people  are  so  impregnated 
with  vice  that  they  seek  for  no  excuses  to  palliate 
his  conduct,  and  have  no  condemnation  for  this 
ruthless  destroyer  of  Iskander's  happy  home.  But 
they  are  Muhammadans,  and  seldom  allow  them- 
selves the  luxury  of  burning  moral  convictions.  I 
have  never  seen  a  missionary  proselytising  amongst 
the  Malays,  but  many  years  ago  I  was  told  that  a 
Christian  missionary  came  to  Malaya  full  of  zeal 
and  confident  of  success.  He  began  with  a  man 
who  seemed  an  earnest,  truthful  person,  anxious  to 

190 


A   MALAY   ROMANCE 

learn,  a  promising  subject.  The  missionary  told 
him  the  story  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  The 
Malay  listened  to  the  end,  showing  great  interest  in 
the  miraculous  narrative  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  ;  then 
he  said,  "  If  that  had  happened  to  my  wife,  I  should 
have  killed  her." 


191 


XVII 
MALAY  SUPERSTITIONS 

There  are  more  things  in  heaven  and 

earth,  Horatio, 

Than  are  dreamt  of  in  your  philosophy 
Hamlet 

MALAY  superstitions  are  the  survival  of  a  time 
antecedent  to  the  advent  of  the  gospel  of 
Islam,  and  their  strong  hold  on  the  people  is  only 
another  proof  of  the  conservative  tendencies  of  the 
race.  What  was  the  Faith  of  Malaya  seven  hundred 
years  ago  it  is  hard  to  say,  but  there  is  a  certain 
amount  of  evidence  to  lead  to  the  belief  that  it  was 
a  form  of  Brahmanism  and  that  no  doubt  had  suc- 
ceeded the  original  Spirit  Worship. 

I  do  not  propose  to  attempt  to  enumerate  all  the 
various  forms  of  superstition,  their  name  is  legion, 
but  only  to  describe  a  few  that  are  both  curious  and 
interesting. 

I  have  already  referred  to  what  is  known  as  ber- 
hanlu,  the  practice  of  a  kind  of  witchcraft  for  the 

192 


MALAY   SUPERSTITIONS 

healing  of  the  sick  ;  it  reminds  one  of  "  casting  out 
devils  in  the  name  of  Beelzebub  the  Prince  of  the 
devils" — and  I  might  here  give  some  of  the  incan- 
tations commonly  spoken  by  the  exorcist,  but  one 
will  suffice.  Here  is  the  translation  of  a  most 
potent  exorcism  believed  to  be  efficacious  against 
the  malevolent  attacks  of  a  thousand  lesser 
demons : 

Heigh  !  thou  Spirit  whose  name  is  Jin  Pari  of 
the  Jin  Aruah ;  Rabiah  Jamil  was  thy  mother's, 
Imam  Jamil  thy  father's  name  ;  thou  art  the  grand- 
child of  Hakim  Baisuri,  the  great-grandchild  of 
Malim  of  the  Forest.  Thou  Spirit  of  the  path 
Lorin,  Spirit  of  the  rising  ground  Sri  Permatang, 
Spirit  of  the  ant-hill  known  as  "  Piebald  Horse." 
Heigh !  you  white  ants  Sekutanai,  why  do  you, 
Sekutapa,  flying  up  stream  make  me  think  you  are 
on  your  way  down,  and  flying  down  stream  give  the 
impression  that  you  are  going  to  the  interior  ? 

I  know  your  origin,  spawn  of  Hell's  spouting 
flame ;  do  not  any  longer  torment  this  person. 

If  you  disobey,  I  will  curse  you  by  the  name  of 
the  Most  High,  saying,  "  By  the  Grace  of  God,  by 
the  Grace  of  God,  by  the  Grace  of  God." 

The  final  threat  to  drive  out  the  demon  by  using 

the  name  of  the  Almighty  is  curious  as  showing 

193  N 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

how  the  exorcist  seeks  by  a  judicious  blending  of 
tradition  with  his  latter-day  Faith  to  get  the  better 
of  the  tormentor. 

A  very  widespread  superstition  is  that  certain 
persons  have  familiar  spirits  who  will,  at  the 
instance  of  their  owners,  enter  into  and  plague  any 
one  whom  it  may  be  desired  to  injure.  These  evil 
spirits  are  known  as  Bdjang,  Polong,  Pflsit,  and 
Langsuior,  the  last  being  a  female  spirit,  T*hey  are 
either  inherited  or  acquired  by  the  practice  of  witch- 
craft, and  the  way  in  which  their  possession  is 
brought  home  to  any  member  of  the  community  is 
as  little  reasonable  as  the  "  proof"  of  the  exercise 
of  similar  powers  in  the  Western  witch  not  so  many 
centuries  ago. 

Some  one  in  a  village  falls  ill  of  a  complaint,  the 
symptoms  of  which  are  unusual;  there  may  be 
convulsions,  unconsciousness,  or  delirium,  possibly 
for  some  days  together  or  with  intervals  between 
the  attacks.  The  relatives  will  call  in  a  native 
doctor,  and  at  her  (she  is  usually  an  ancient  female) 
suggestion,  or  without  it,  an  impression  will  arise 
that  the  patient  is  the  victim  of  a  bdjang.  Such  an 
impression  quickly  develops  into  certainty  and  any 
trifle  will  suggest  the  owner  of  the  evil  spirit.  One 
method  of  verifying  this  suspicion  is  to  wait  till  the 

194 


MALAY   SUPERSTITIONS 

patient  is  in  a  state  of  delirium  and  then  to  question 
him  or  her  as  to  who  is  the  author  of  the  trouble. 
This  should  be  done  by  some  independent  person  of 
authority  who  is  supposed  to  be  able  to  ascertain 
the  truth. 

A  further  and  convincing  proof  is  then  to  call  in 
a  " Pawang"  skilled  in  dealing  with  wizards  (in 
Malay  countries  they  are  usually  men),  and  if  he 
knows  his  business  his  power  is  such  that  he  will 
place  the  sorcerer  in  one  room,  and,  while  he  in 
another  scrapes  an  iron  vessel  with  a  razor,  the 
culprit's  hair  will  fall  off  as  though  the  razor  had 
been  applied  to  his  head  instead  of  to  the  vessel  ! 
That  is  supposing  he  is  the  culprit ;  if  not,  of 
course  he  will  pass  through  the  ordeal  without 
damage. 

I  have  been  assured  that  the  shaving  process  is 
so  efficacious  that,  as  the  vessel  represents  the  head 
of  the  person  standing  his  trial,  wherever  it  is 
scraped,  the  wizard's  hair  will  fall  off  in  a  corre- 
sponding spot.  It  might  be  supposed  that  under 
these  circumstances  the  accused  is  reasonably  safe, 
but  this  test  of  guilt  is  not  always  employed. 
What  more  commonly  happens  is  that  when  several 
cases  of  unexplained  sickness  have  occurred  in  a 
village,  with  possibly  one  or  two  deaths,  the  people 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

of  the  place  lodge  a  formal  complaint  against  the 
supposed  author  of  these  ills  and  desire  that  he  be 
punished. 

Before  the  advent  of  British  influence  it  was  the 
practice  to  kill  the  wizard  or  witch  whose  guilt  had 
been  established  to  Malay  satisfaction,  and  such 
executions  were  carried  out  not  very  many  years 
ago. 

I  remember  a  case  in  Perak  less  than  ten  years 
ago  when  the  people  of  an  up-river  village  accused 
a  man  of  keeping  a  bdjang,  and  the  present  Sultan, 
who  was  then  the  principal  Malay  Judge  in  the 
State,  told  them  he  would  severely  punish  the 
bdjang  if  they  would  produce  it.  They  went  away 
hardly  satisfied  and  shortly  after  made  a  united 
representation  to  the  effect  that  if  the  person  sus- 
pected were  allowed  to  remain  in  their  midst  they 
would  kill  him.  Before  anything  could  be  done 
they  put  him,  his  family,  and  effects  on  a  raft  and 
started  them  down  the  river.  On  their  arrival  at 
Kuala  Kangsar  the  man  was  given  an  isolated  hut 
to  live  in,  but  not  long  afterwards  he  disappeared. 

The  hereditary  bdjang  comes  like  other  evils,  the 
unsought  heritage  of  a  dissolute  ancestry,  but  the 
acquired  bdjang  is  usually  obtained  from  the  newly- 
buried  body  of  a  stillborn  child,  which  is  supposed 

196 


MALAY   SUPERSTITIONS 

to  be  the  abiding-place  of  a  familiar  spirit  until 
lured  therefrom  by  the  solicitations  of  someone 
who,  at  dead  of  night,  stands  over  the  grave  and 
by  potent  incantations  persuades  the  bdjang  to  come 
forth. 

Polong  and  Pelsit  are  but  other  names  for  Bdjang, 
the  latter  is  chiefly  used  in  the  State  of  Kedah 
where  it  is  considered  rather  chic  to  have  a  pelsit. 
A  Kedah  lady  the  other  day,  eulogising  the  advant- 
ages of  possessing  a  familiar  spirit  (she  said  that 
amongst  other  things  it  gave  her  absolute  control 
over  her  husband  and  the  power  of  annoying  people 
who  offended  her),  thus  described  the  method  of 
securing  this  useful  ally  : 

"  You  go  out,"  she  said,  "  on  the  night  before 
the  full  moon  and  stand  with  your  back  to  the  moon 
and  your  face  to  an  ant-hill  so  that  your  shadow 
falls  on  the  ant-hill.  Then  you  recite  certain  jampi 
(incantations),  and  bending  forward  try  to  embrace 
your  shadow.  If  you  fail  try  again  several  times, 
repeating  more  incantations.  If  not  successful  go 
the  next  night  and  make  a  further  effort,  and  the 
night  after  if  necessary — three  nights  in  all.  If 
you  cannot  then  catch  your  shadow,  wait  till  the 
same  day  on  the  following  month  and  renew  the 

attempt.     Sooner  or  later  you  will   succeed,   and, 

197 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

as  you  stand  there  in  the  brilliance  of  the  moonlight, 
you  will  see  that  you  have  drawn  your  shadow  into 
yourself,  and  your  body  will  never  again  cast  a 
shade.  Go  home  and  in  the  night,  whether  sleeping 
or  waking,  the  form  of  a  child  will  appear  before 
you  and  put  out  its  tongue  ;  that  seize  and  it  will 
remain  while  the  rest  of  the  child  disappears.  In 
a  little  while  the  tongue  will  turn  into  something 
that  breathes,  a  small  animal,  reptile  or  insect,  and 
when  you  see  the  creature  has  life  put  it  in  a  bottle 
and  the  pelsit  is  yours." 

It  sounds  easy  enough,  and  one  is  not  surprised 
to  hear  that  everyone  in  Kedah,  who  is  anybody, 
keeps  a  pelsit. 

Langsmor,  the  female  familiar,  differs  hardly  at 
all  from  the  bdjang  except  that  she  is  a  little  more 
baneful,  and,  when  under  the  control  of  a  man,  he 
sometimes  becomes  the  victim  of  her  attractions, 
and  she  will  even  bear  him  elfin  children. 

It  is  all  very  well  for  the  Kedah  ladies  to  sacrifice 
their  shadows  to  obtain  possession  of  a  pelsit,  leaders 
of  society  must  be  in  the  fashion  at  any  cost ;  but 
there  are  plenty  of  people  living  in  Perak  who  have 
seen  more  than  one  ancient  Malay  dame  taken  out 
into  the  river,  and,  despite  her  protestations,  her 
tears  and  entreaties,  have  watched  her,  with  hands 

198 


MALAY   SUPERSTITIONS 

and  feet  tied,  put  into  the  water  and  slowly  pushed 
down  out  of  sight  by  means  of  a  long  pole  with  a 
fork  at  one  end  which  fitted  on  to  her  neck.  Those 
who  witnessed  these  executions  have  no  doubt  of 
the  justice  of  the  punishment,  and  not  uncommonly 
add  that  after  two  or  three  examples  had  been  made 
there  would  alwa}^  ensue  a  period  of  rest  from  the 
torments  of  the  bdjang.  I  have  also  been  assured 
that  the  bdjang,  in  the  shape  of  a  lizard,  has  been 
seen  to  issue  from  the  drowning  person's  nose. 
That  statement,  no  doubt,  is  made  on  the  authority 
of  those  who  condemned  and  executed  the  victim. 

The  following  legend  gives  the  Malay  conception 
of  the  origin  of  all  Jin,  hantu,  bdjang,  and  other 
spirits. 

The  Creator  determined  to  make  Man,  and  for 
that  purpose  He  took  some  clay  from  the  earth  and 
fashioned  it  into  the  figure  of  a  man.  Then  He 
took  the  Spirit  of  Life  to  endue  this  body  with 
vitality  and  placed  the  spirit  on  the  head  of  the 
figure.  But  the  spirit  was  strong,  and  the  body, 
being  only  clay,  could  not  hold  it  and  was  reft  in 
pieces  and  scattered  into  the  air.  Those  fragments 
of  the  first  great  Failure  are  the  spirits  of  earth  and 
sea  and  air. 

The  Creator  then  formed  another  clay  figure,  but 
199 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

into  this  one  He  wrought  some  iron,  so  that  when 
it  received  the  vital  spark  it  withstood  the  strain 
and  became  Man.  That  man  was  Adam,  and  the 
iron  that  is  in  the  constitution  of  his  descendants 
has  stood  them  in  good  stead.  When  they  lose  it, 
they  become  of  little  more  account  than  their  proto- 
type the  first  failure. 

Another  article  of  almost  universal  belief  is  that 
the  people  of  a  small  State  in  Sumatra  called 
Korinchi  have  the  power  of  assuming  at  will  the 
form  of  a  tiger,  and  in  that  disguise  they  wreak 
vengeance  on  those  they  wish  to  injure.  Not 
every  Korinchi  man  can  do  this,  but  still  the  gift 
of  this  strange  power  of  metamorphosis  is  pretty 
well  confined  to  the  people  of  the  small  Sumatran 
State.  At  night  when  respectable  members  of 
society  should  be  in  bed,  the  Korinchi  man  slips 
down  from  his  hut,  and,  assuming  the  form  of  a 
tiger,  goes  about  "  seeking  whom  he  may  devour." 

I  have  heard  of  four  Korinchi  men  arriving  in  a 
district  of  Perak,  and  that  night  a  number  of  fowls 
were  taken  by  a  tiger.  The  strangers  left  and 
went  further  up  country,  and  shortly  after  only 
three  of  them  returned  and  stated  that  a  tiger  had 
just  been  killed,  and  they  begged  the  local  headman 
to  bury  it ! 

200 


MALAY   SUPERSTITIONS 

On  another  occasion  some  Korinchi  men  appeared 
and  sought  hospitality  in  a  Malay  house,  and  there 
also  the  fowls  disappeared  in  the,  night,  and  there 
were  unmistakable  traces  of  the  visit  of  a  tiger,  but 
the  next  day  one  of  the  visitors  fell  sick,  and  shortly 
after  vomited  chicken-feathers ! 

It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  the  Korinchi  people 
strenuously  deny  the  tendencies  and  the  power 
ascribed  to  them,  but  aver  that  they  properly  belong 
to  the  inhabitants  of  a  district  called  Chenaku  in 
the  interior  of  the  Korinchi  country.  Even  there, 
however,  it  is  only  those  who  are  practised  in  the 
el&mu  s£hir,  the  occult  arts  who  are  thus  capable 
of  transforming  themselves  into  tigers,  and  the 
Korinchi  people  profess  themselves  afraid  to  enter 
the  Chenaku  district. 

It  was  my  misfortune  some  years  ago  to  be 
robbed  of  some  valuable  property,  and  several 
Malay  friends  strongly  advised  me  to  take  the 
advice  of  an  astrologer  or  other  learned  person  who 
(so  they  said)  would  be  able  to  give  the  name  of 
the  thief,  and  probably  recover  most  of  the  stolen 
things.  I  fear  that  I  had  no  great  faith  in  this 
method  of  detection,  but  I  was  anxious  to  'see  what 
could  be  done,  for  the  East  is  a  curious  place,  and 
no  one  with  an  inquiring  mind  can  have  lived 

201 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

in  it  long  without  seeing  phenomena  that  are  not 
always  explained  by  modern  text- books  on  Natural 
Philosophy. 

I  was  first  introduced  to  an  Arab  of  very  remark- 
able appearance.  He  was  about  fifty  years  old,  tall, 
with  pleasant  features  and  extraordinary  grey-blue 
eyes,  clear  and  far-seeing,  a  man  of  striking  and 
impressive  personality.  I  was  travelling  when  I 
met  him,  and  tried  to  persuade  him  to  return  with 
me,  but  that  he  said  he  could  not  do,  though  he 
promised  to  follow  me  by  an  early  steamer.  He 
said  he  would  be  able  to  tell  me  all  about  the 
robbery,  who  committed  it,  where  the  stolen  pro- 
perty then  was,  and  that  all  he  would  want  was  an 
empty  house  wherein  he  might  fast  in  solitude  for 
three  days,  without  which  preparation,  he  said,  he 
would  not  be  able  to  see  what  he  sought.  He  told 
me  that  after  his  vigil,  fast,  and  prayer,  he  would 
lay  in  his  hand  a  small  piece  of  paper  on  which 
there  would  be  some  writing,  into  this  he  would 
pour  a  little  water,  and  in  that  extemporised  mirror 
he  would  see  a  vision  of  the  whole  transaction. 
He  declared  that,  after  gazing  intently  into  this 
divining-glass,  the  inquirer  first  recognised  the 
figure  of  a  little  old  man.  That  having  duly  saluted 
this  Jin,  it  was  only  necessary  to  ask  him  to  conjure 

202 


MALAY   SUPERSTITIONS 

up  the  scene  of  the  robbery,  when  all  the  details 
would  be  re-enacted  in  the  liquid  glass  under  the 
eyes  of  the  gazer,  who  would  there  and  then 
describe  all  that  he  saw.  I  had  heard  all  this 
before,  only  it  had  been  stated  to  me  then  that  the 
medium  through  whose  eyes  the  vision  could  alone 
be  seen  must  be  a  young  child  of  such  tender  years 
that  it  could  have  never  told  a  lie !  The  Arab, 
however,  professed  himself  not  only  able  to  conjure 
up  the  scene,  but  to  let  me  see  it  for  myself,  if  I 
would  follow  his  directions.  Unfortunately,  my 
grey-eyed  friend  failed  to  keep  his  promise,  and  I 
never  met  him  again. 

A  local  Chief,  however,  declared  his  power  to 
read  the  past  by  this  method,  if  only  he  could  find 
the  truthful  child.  In  this  he  appeared  to  succeed, 
but  when,  on  the  following  day,  he  came  to  disclose 
to  me  the  results  of  his  skill,  he  said  that  a  difficulty 
had  arisen  because  just  when  the  child  (a  little  boy) 
was  beginning  to  relate  what  he  saw  he  suddenly 
became  unconscious,  and  it  took  the  astrologer  two 
hours  to  restore  him  to  his  normal  state.  All  the 
mothers  of  tender-aged  and  possibly  truthful 
children  declined  after  this  to  lend  their  offspring 
for  the  ordeal. 

My  friend  was  not,  however,  at  the  end  of  his 
203 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

resources,  and,  though  only  an  amateur  in  divina- 
tion, he  undertook  to  try  by  other  methods  to  find 
the  culprit.  For  this  purpose  he  asked  me  to  give 
him  the  names  of  everyone  in  the  house  at  the  time 
the  robbery  was  committed.  I  did  so,  and  the  next 
day  he  gave  me  one  of  those  names  as  that  of  the 
thief.  I  asked  how  he  had  arrived  at  this  knowledge, 
he  described  the  method  and  consented  to  repeat 
the  experiment  in  my  presence.  That  afternoon  I 
went  with  him  to  a  small  house  belonging  to  his  sister. 
Here  I  found  my  friend  the  Chief,  his  sister,  and 
two  men  whom  I  did  not  recognise.  We  all  sat  in  a 
very  small  room,  the  Chief  in  the  centre  with  a  copy 
of  the  Koran  on  a  reading-stand,  near  to  him  the 
two  men,  opposite  to  each  other,  the  sister  against 
one  wall  and  I  in  a  corner.  A  clean  new  unglazed 
earthenware  bowl  with  a  wide  rim  was  produced. 
This  was  filled  with  water,  and  a  piece  of  fair  white 
cotton  cloth  tied  over  the  top,  making  a  surface  like 
that  of  a  drum. 

I  was  asked  to  write  the  name  of  each  person 
present  in  the  house  when  the  robbery  was  com- 
mitted on  a  small  piece  of  paper,  and  to  fold  each 
paper  up  so  that  all  should  be  alike,  and  then  to 
place  one  of  the  names  on  the  cover  of  the  vessel. 
I  did  so,  and  the  proceedings  began  by  the  two 

204 


MALAY   SUPERSTITIONS 

men  placing  each  the  middle  joint  of  the  fore-finger 
of  his  right  hand  under  the  rim  of  the  bowl  on 
opposite  sides,  and  so  supporting  it  about  six  inches 
above  the  floor.  The  vessel  being  large  and  full  of 
water  was  heavy,  and  the  men  supported  the  strain 
by  resting  their  right  elbows  on  their  knees  as  they 
sat  cross-legged  on  the  floor  and  face  to  face.  It 
was  then  that  I  selected  one  of  the  folded  papers, 
and  placed  it  on  the  cover  of  the  vessel.  The  Chief 
read  a  page  of  the  Koran,  and  as  nothing  happened 
he  said  that  was  not  the  name  of  the  guilty  person, 
and  I  changed  the  paper  for  another.  This  occurred 
four  times,  but  at  the  fifth  the  reading  had  scarcely 
commenced  when  the  bowl  began  to  slowly  turn 
round  from  left  to  right,  the  supporters  letting  their 
hands  go  round  with  it,  until  it  twisted  itself  out  of 
their  fingers  and  fell  on  the  floor  with  a  considerable 
bang  and  a  great  spluttering  of  water  through  the 
thin  cover.  "  That,"  said  the  Chief,  "  is  the  name 
of  the  thief." 

It  was  the  name  of  the  person  already  mentioned 
by  him. 

I  did  not,  however,  impart  that  piece  of  informa- 
tion to  the  company,  but  went  on  to  the  end  of  my 
papers,  nothing  more  happening. 

I  said  I  should  like  to  try  the  test  again,  and  as 
205 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

the  Chief  at  once  consented  we  began  afresh,  and 
this  time  I  put  the  name  of  the  suspected  person  on 
first,  and  once  more  the  vessel  turned  round  and 
twisted  itself  out  of  the  hands  of  the  holders,  till  it 
fell  on  the  floor  and  I  was  surprised  it  did  not  break. 
After  trying  a  few  more  I  said  I  was  satisfied,  and 
the  ordeal  of  the  bowl  was  over. 

Then  the  Chief  asked  me  whose  name  had  been  on 
the  vessel  when  it  moved,  and  I  told  him.  It  was 
a  curious  coincidence  certainly.  I  wrote  the  names 
in  English,  which  no  one  could  read  ;  moreover,  I 
was  so  placed  that  no  one  could  see  what  I  wrote, 
and  they  none  of  them  attempted  to  do  so.  Then 
the  papers  were  folded  up  so  as  to  be  all  exactly 
alike,  they  were  shuffled  together,  and  I  did  not 
know  one  from  the  other  till  I  looked  inside  myself. 
Each  time  I  went  from  my  corner  and  placed  a  name 
on  the  vessel  already  held  on  the  fingers  of  its 
supporters.  No  one  except  I  touched  the  papers, 
and  no  one  but  the  Chief  ever  spoke  till  the  seance 
was  over.  I  asked  the  men  who  held  the  bowl  why 
they  made  it  turn  round  at  that  particular  moment, 
but  they  declared  they  had  nothing  to  do  with  it, 
and  that  the  vessel  twisted  itself  off  their  fingers 
against  their  inclination. 

The    name    disclosed    by    this    experiment   was 
206 


MALAY   SUPERSTITIONS 

certainly  that  of  the  person  whom  there  was  most 
reason  to  suspect,  but  beyond  that  I  learnt  nothing. 

Another  plan  for  surprising  the  secret  of  a 
suspected  person  is  to  get  into  the  room  where  that 
person  is  sleeping,  and  after  making  certain  passes 
to  question  the  slumberer,  when  he  may  truthfully 
answer  all  the  questions  put  to  him.  This  is  a 
favourite  device  of  the  suspicious  husband. 

Yet  another  plan  is  to  place  in  the  hand  of  a 
pdwang,  magician,  or  medium,  a  divining-rod  formed 
of  three  lengths  of  rattan  tied  together  at  one  end, 
and  when  he  gets  close  to  the  person  "  wanted,"  or 
to  the  place  where  anything  stolen  is  concealed,  the 
rod  vibrates  in  a  remarkable  manner. 

A  great  many  Malays  and  one  or  two  Europeans 
may  be  found  who  profess  to  have  seen  water 
drawn  from  a  kris.  The  modus  operandi  is  simple. 
The  "  pawang "  (I  dare  not  call  him  conjurer) 
works  with  bare  arms  to  show  there  is  no  deception. 
He  takes  the  kris  (yours,  if  you  prefer  it)  from  its 
wooden  handle,  and,  holding  the  steel  point  down- 
wards in  his  left  hand,  he  recites  a  short  incantation 
to  the  effect  that  he  knows  all  about  iron  and  where 
it  comes  from,  and  that  it  must  obey  his  orders.  He 
then  with  the  thumb  and  first  two  fingers  of  his 
right  hand  proceeds  to  gently  squeeze  the  steel, 

207 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

moving  his  fingers  up  and  down  the  blade.  After 
a  little  while  a  few  drops  of  water  fall  from  the 
point  of  the  kris,  and  these  drops  quickly  develop 
into  a  stream  that  will  fill  a  cup.  The  "  pawang  " 
will  then  hand  round  the  blade  and  tell  you  to  bend 
it ;  this  you  will  find  no  difficulty  in  doing,  but  by 
making  two  or  three  passes  over  the  kris  the 
"  pawang  "  can  render  it  again  so  hard  that  it  cannot 
be  bent. 

The  only  drawback  to  this  trick  or  miracle  is 
that  the  process  ruins  the  temper  of  the  steel,  and  a 
kris  that  has  been  thus  treated  is  useless. 

One  evening  I  was  discussing  these  various 
superstitions  with  the  Sultan  of  Perak,  and  I  did 
not  notice  that  the  spiritual  teacher  of  His  Highness 
had  entered  and  was  waiting  to  lead  the  evening 
prayer.  The  guru,  or  teacher,  no  doubt  heard  the 
end  of  our  conversation  and  was  duly  scandalised, 
for  the  next  day  I  received  from  him  a  letter,  of 
which  the  following  is  the  translation  : 

"  First  praise  to  God,  the  Giver  of  all  good,  a 
Fountain  of  Compassion  to  His  servants. 

11  From  Haji  Wan  Muhammad,  Teacher  of  His 
Highness  the  Sultan  of  Perak,  to  the  Resident  who 
administers  the  Government  of  Perak. 

208 


MALAY   SUPERSTITIONS 

"The  whole  earth  is  in  the  hand  of  the  most 
High  God,  and  He  gives  it  as  an  inheritance  to 
whom  He  will  of  His  subjects.  The  true  religion 
is  also  of  God,  and  Heaven  is  the  reward  of  those 
who  fear  the  Most  High.  Salvation  and  peace  are 
for  those  who  follow  the  straight  path,  and  only 
they  will  in  the  end  arrive  at  real  greatness.  No 
Raja  can  do  good,  and  none  can  be  powerful  except 
by  the  help  of  God  the  Most  High,  who  is  also 
Most  Mighty. 

"  I  make  ten  thousand  salutations.  I  wish  to 
inquire  about  the  practice  of  ber-hantu,  driving 
oneself  mad  and  losing  one's  reason,  as  has  been 
the  custom  of  Rajas  and  Chiefs  in  this  State  of 
Perak  ;  is  it  right  according  to  your  religion,  Mr. 
Resident,  or  is  it  not  ?  For  that  practice  is  a 
deadly  sin  to  the  Muhammadan  Faith,  because 
those  who  engage  in  it  lose  their  reason  and  waste 
their  substance  for  nothing ;  some  of  them  cast  it 
into  the  water,  while  others  scatter  it  broadcast 
through  the  jungle.  How  is  such  conduct  treated 
by  your  religion,  Mr.  Resident,  is  it  right  or  wrong  ? 
I  want  you  in  your  indulgence  to  give  me  an  answer, 
for  this  practice  is  very  hard  on  the  poor.  The 
Headmen  collect  from  the  rayats,  and  then  they 
make  elaborate  preparations  of  food,  killing  a  buffalo 

209  o 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

or  fowls,  and  all  this  is  thrown  away  as  already 
stated.  According  to  the  Muhammadan  religion 
such  proceedings  lead  to  destruction. 

"  I  salute  you  many  times,  do  not  be  angry,  for 
I  do  not  understand  your  customs,  Mr.  Resident. 

"  (Signed)  HAJI  MUHAMMAD  ABU  HASSAN." 


210 


XVIII 
WITH  A  CASTING-NET 

Where  fountains  of  sweet  water  run 

between, 
And  sun  and  shadow  chequer-chased 

the  green 

JiMI 

PERAK  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  populous 
of  the  States  of  the  Malay  Peninsula,  it  is 
the  one  where  probably  the  rulers  can  claim  the 
clearest  genealogy  and  the  longest  recorded  descent, 
and  it  is  unquestionably  here  that  all  ancient  rites 
and  customs  have  been  most  carefully  preserved. 

Whilst  it  was  to  Perak  that  the  first  British 
Resident  was  appointed,  and  this  State  is  now  the 
most  wealthy,  advanced,  and  prosperous  of  all  those 
under  British  influence,  the  Malays  still  maintain 
their  traditions  and  observe  their  honoured  customs 
as  though  railways  and  steamers,  education  and 
sanitation  had  no  more  part  in  their  lives  than 

211 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

when  Albuquerque  was  striving  to  effect  a  landing 
on  the  shores  of  Malacca. 

For  ages  it  has  been  a  practice  of  the  Sultans  of 
Perak  to  reserve  certain  waters  for  their  own  fish- 
ing, and  certain  jungle  tracts  (usually  surrounding 
a  hot  spring  of  mineral  water)  for  their  own  hunting. 
There  they  would  resort,  annually  or  oftener,  and 
with  their  relatives,  chiefs,  and  followers  take  their 
kingly  pleasure,  as  it  was  duly  chronicled  had  been 
the  custom  of  their  ancestors. 

In  the  lull  after  the  first  heavy  rains,  that  is 
about  the  month  of  December,  when  the  river  has 
been  swollen  to  flood-height  for  a  couple  of  months, 
the  tuntong  or  river-turtles  ascend  the  Perak  River 
in  considerable  numbers  and  lay  their  eggs  on  cer- 
tain convenient  sand  stretches  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Bota,  about  100  miles  from  the  river's  mouth. 

The  most  frequented  of  these  laying  grounds 
is  a  place  called  Pdsir  Ttlor  (egg-sand),  just  below 
Bota,  and  it  is  here  that  the  ladies  of  the  Court 
annually  assemble  to  dig  up  the  eggs,  which  the 
Malay  considers  one  of  the  greatest  delicacies 
known  to  him. 

The  river-turtle  is  a  great  deal  smaller  than  the 
sea-turtle,  but  it  lays  a  larger  egg,  and  one  much 
more  valued  by  Malays. 

212 


WITH   A   CASTING-NET 

As  soon  as  the  river  rises  watchers  are  stationed 
on  the  sands,  and  the  turtles  are  said  to  lay  three 
times.  The  nests  are  dug  between  two  and  three 
feet  under  the  sand,  and  contain  from  about  fifteen 
to  thirty-five  eggs  each.  During  the  laying  season 
boats  are  not  allowed  to  stop  at  the  sands  for  fear 
they  should  disturb  the  turtles. 

When  the  first  set  of  eggs  has  been  laid  and  the 
turtles  have  returned  to  the  river,  the  watchers 
open  the  nests  and  send  the  eggs  up  to  the  Sultan. 
The  second  set  of  nests  is  opened  by  the  royal 
party,  and  the  third  is  left  to  hatch,  an  operation 
that  takes  six  months.  There  is  no  sitting,  the 
young  turtles  simply  emerge  from  the  sand,  walk 
down  into  the  river  and  swim  away. 

It  is  said  that  if  the  first  and  second  nests  are 
left  untouched,  the  turtles  themselves  open  them 
and  scatter  and  destroy  the  eggs ;  but  that,  after 
the  third  "lay,"  they  take  their  departure,  having 
accomplished  their  task. 

Directly  the  watchers  report  that  the  turtles 
have  made  the  second  nests,  the  Sultan  and  his 
family,  with  the  neighbouring  chiefs  and  their 
families,  take  boat  and  paddle  down  the  stream  to 
Pasir  Telor. 

Fifteen  or  twenty  large  house-boats  and  several 
213 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

bamboo  rafts  containing  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  people  make  an  imposing  procession.  The 
rafts  are  simply  floating  houses,  with  mat  walls  and 
a  high  thatched  roof,  and  are  manned  by  crews  of 
from  four  to  sixteen  polers ;  but  the  boats  are 
graceful  and  picturesque  barges,  of  which  the 
foundation  is  a  long  dug-out  of  hard  wood  drawing 
very  little  water,  the  freeboard  is  raised  by  the 
breadth  of  one  or  two  planks,  and  over  the  stern 
half  of  the  boat  is  built  a  palm-thatched  covering 
on  a  slight  wooden  frame,  while  curtains  secure 
privacy.  Inside  this  house,  the  roof  of  which  rises 
in  a  sharp  curve  towards  the  stern,  sit  and  lie  on 
mats  and  cushions  the  owner  and  his  family  or 
friends.  The  crew  occupy  the  forward  half  of  the 
boat,  where  they  sit  to  paddle  down  stream  or 
stand  to  pole  up.  The  steersman  has  a  high  seat 
in  the  stern,  from  whence  he  is  able  to  see  clear  of 
the  cabin-roof. 

The  covered  portion  of  the  barge  which  carries 
the  Sultan's  principal  wife  is  decorated  with  six 
scarlet-bordered  white  umbrellas.  Two  officers 
stand  all  day  long,  just  outside  the  state-room, 
holding  open  black  umbrellas  with  silver  fringes, 
and  two  others  are  in  the  bows  with  long  bamboo 
poles  held  close  together  and  erect.  The  royal 

214 


WITH   A   CASTING-NET 

bugler  sits  on  the  extreme  end  of  the  prow,  and 
from  time  to  time  blows  a  call  on  the  antique  silver 
trumpet  of  the  regalia.  Flags  are  flown,  other  boats 
carry  gongs  and  drums,  and  altogether  the  pleasure- 
fleet  makes  a  brave  show  and  a  considerable  noise, 
attracting  the  attention  of  all  the  dwellers  on  the 
riverine. 

The  journey  from  the  Sultan's  palace  at  Kuala 
Kangsar  occupies  two  days,  and  on  the  morning  of 
the  third  all  the  ladies  of  the  party,  with  all  their 
attendants  and  children  (a  good  many  still  in  arms), 
disembark  for  the  ceremony  of  digging  out  the, 
turtle-eggs. 

The  ladies  are  in  their  smartest  garments 
and  wear  their  costliest  jewels.  It  is  a  blaze  of 
brilliant-coloured  silks,  of  painted  sarongs,  cloth-of- 
gold  scarves,  and  embroidered  gauze  veils  ;  of  bright 
sunshades,  gold  bracelets,  necklaces,  and  bangles ; 
of  curious  jewelled  brooches,  massive  hair-pins,  and 
rings  flashing  with  the  light  of  diamonds  and 
rubies. 

The  men  appear  in  jackets,  trousers,  and  sarongs 
of  hardly  less  striking  hues ;  but  the  horror  of 
Western  dyes  and  Western  schemes  of  colour  has 
not  yet  demoralised  the  Malay's  innate  sense  of 
beauty  and  fitness,  and  nothing  offends  the  eye  as 

215 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

all  this  wealth  of  bravery  moves  slowly  across  the 
strand. 

A  scorching  sun  shines  down  on  the  gaily-clad 
figures  with  their  background  of  dark  jungle,  on  the 
yellow  sands  and  sparkling  river,  with  its  burden 
of  picturesque  boats,  and  gives  light  and  shadow  to 
a  charming  picture. 

The  watchers  have  marked  with  twigs  the  various 
nests,  and  each  lady  of  rank,  with  her  little  crowd 
of  attendants,  makes  for  one  of  these,  and  with  her 
hands  begins  to  dig  up  the  sand  in  search  of  the 
eggs.  But  the  nest  is  deep  down,  and  the  sides  of 
the  hole  have  a  way  of  falling  in  on  the  digger,  so 
a  man  or  boy  is  desired  to  remove  the  overburden 
and  make  things  easy  for  the  lady.  The  overlying 
sand  is  quickly  scooped  out  until  one  or  two  of  the 
white  eggs  are  disclosed,  and  then  the  lady,  sitting 
on  the  edge  and  stooping  far  down,  can  just  manage 
to  reach  the  nest,  and  the  eggs  are  carefully 
handed  up. 

Besides  the  pleasure  of  actually  removing  the 
eggs  with  one's  own  hand,  of  displaying  to  admiring 
eyes  a  vision  of  taper  fingers  and  rounded  wrist,  of 
showing  how  little  it  matters  that  the  costliest 
garments  should  trail  in  the  sand,  there  is  the 

rivalry  of  whose  nest  yields  the  largest  number  of 

216 


WITH   A   CASTING-NET 

eggs.  Anything  over  twenty-five  is  considered  a 
satisfactory  find. 

By  the  time  all  the  nests  have  been  rifled,  the 
sands  are  growing  so  hot  under  the  rays  of  the 
fiery  sun  that  bare  feet  can  hardly  endure  what  is 
little  short  of  torture.  There  is  an  almost  hurried 
return  to  the  boats,  the  finery  is  exchanged  for 
simpler  garments,  and  all  the  men  and  many  of  the 
ladies  take  to  the  river,  and  there  disport  themselves 
in  a  manner  that  is  refreshing  to  sun-scorched 
bodies  and  the  eyes  of  the  Western  spectator  who 
is  fortunate  enough  to  see  how  it  is  possible  to  be 
unconventionally  natural  and  yet  perfectly  modest. 

It  is  only  on  such  occasions  as  this  that  a 
strange  man  can  see  these  ladies  unveiled  and  even 
so  he  is  not  expected  to  look  at  them  or  go  very 
near  them  ;  but  their  bathing-costume  differs  hardly 
at  all  from  that  which  they  commonly  wear,  and 
they  thoroughly  enjoy  this  opportunity  of  revelling 
in  the  clear  waters  of  the  sand-bedded  stream. 

Then  every  one  scrambles  back  into  the  boats, 
which  are  pushed  off  into  deep  water,  the  rowers 
seize  their  paddles  and  with  beat  of  gong  and  the 
musical  notes  of  the  silver  serunai,  with  jest  and 
laughter,  pennons  waving,  and  bright  eyes  sparkling 

behind  the  rainbow-coloured  blinds,  the  picturesque 

217 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

flotilla  glides  on  its  course  down  the  long  sunny 
reach,  in  and  out  amongst  the  islets,  round  a 
heavily-wooded,  deeply-shadowed  headland,  past 
the  riverside  hamlets  and  the  orchards,  the  stately 
palms,  the  clusters  of  bamboo  that  overhang  the 
water  like  great  plumes  of  pale  green  feathers,  and 
so  ever  onward  through  sunlight  and  shadow  till 
another  bourne  is  reached. 

The  graceful  turn  of  the  leading  barge  towards 
a  sand-spit  flanked  by  a  long  inviting  backwater, 
the  roll  of  a  drum  and  every  prow  is  headed  for 
the  shallows  of  the  bank  that  divides  the  dyer  mdtit 
the  "  dead  water,"  from  the  living  hurrying  stream. 

The  boats  arrange  themselves  in  divisions,  the 
crews  land,  make  fires,  and  boil  the  rice  for  their 
mid-day  meal,  while  the  cooking  and  breakfasting 
of  the  members  of  the  "  court"  is  done  on  board 
the  various  barges. 

In  this  feudal  and  conservative  country  when 
the  people  eat  they  mdkan,  but  the  Raja  does  not 
mdkan,  with  him  it  is  santap.  When  "  the  masses" 
bathe  they  mandi,  but  the  same  operation  in  the 
case  of  a  Raja  is  called  seram;  a  chief  or  a  beggar 
may  sleep  and  that  is  tidor,  but  when  the  Raja 
sleeps  he  is  said  to  ber-ddu.  This  does  not  mean 
that  a  wide  gulf  divides  Malay  classes,  there  is 

218 


WITH   A   CASTING-NET 

rather  that  communion  as  of  the  members  of  an 
old  Scotch  clan,  but  respect  and  courtesy  are 
characteristic  of  the  race,  a  prized  legacy  which  it 
is  not  yet  considered  a  sign  of  either  independence 
or  good  manners  to  despise.  People  of  the  same 
class,  rajas  and  chiefs,  children  and  parents, 
brothers  and  sisters,  speak  to  each  other  with 
studied  deference  and  never  forget  the  little  distinc- 
tions that  mark  fine  shades  of  rank  or  age.  Boys 
and  girls  are  as  careful  in  the  observance  of  these 
courtesies  as  are  their  elders. 

Education  and  contact  with  Europeans  will  alter 
all  this,  and  in  the  next  century  there  will  be  more 
equality  and  probably  less  politeness  and  fraternity. 
But  then  also  there  will  be  no  royal  preserves,  no 
class  privileges,  and  no  State  junketings  where 
noble  and  peasant  meet  in  generous  rivalry  of  skill 
with  a  single  desire  to  snatch  from  the  toil,  the 
disappointments,  and  the  sorrows  of  life  one  week 
of  pleasure  wherein  individual  joy  may  grow 
greater  in  the  knowledge  that  it  is  shared  by  many. 

Future  possibilities  do  not  disturb  our  friends, 
whose  guiding  principle  is  rather  "  insufficient 
for  the  day  is  the  pleasure  thereof."  They  have 
attacks  of  hatred  and  gloom,  and  then  they  kill, 

if    the    desire    is    strong    enough,  but    these    fits 

219 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

are  rare,  and  when  not  actively  engaged  in  amusing 
themselves  they  are  lotus-eating,  sometimes  figura- 
tively, sometimes  in  reality. 

This  is  a  time  for  action,  and,  the  mid-day  meal 
disposed  of,  all  the  men  of  the  party  get  ready  their 
casting-nets  and  don  the  garments  that  will  least 
hamper  the  free  use  of  their  limbs  and  will  not  be 
injured  by  a  thorough  wetting. 

The  backwater  has  a  narrow  and  shallow 
entrance  on  the  river,  and  this  entrance  is  staked 
across  to  guard  it  from  what  in  the  West  would  be 
called  poachers.  Through  the  stakes  a  way  has 
now  been  made  wide  enough  to  admit  of  the  pas- 
sage of  boats.  The  Sultan's  barge  and  a  few  other 
house-boats  have  passed  the  barrier,  and  these  are 
accompanied  by  a  fleet  of  fifty  uncovered  dug-outs, 
each  with  a  light  grating  of  split-bamboos  over  half 
its  length,  and  each  carrying  two  or  three  paddlers, 
one  of  whom  steers  and  one  man  standing  on  the 
extreme  end  of  the  bow  ready  to  cast  the  net. 

These  nets  are  of  local  make,  the  mesh  is  small, 
the  thread  of  twisted  strands  of  finest  cotton,  and 
the  length  varies  according  to  the  ability  of  the 
owner  to  cast  it.  A  very  short  net  is  five  or  six 
cubits  in  length  from  centre  to  edge,  a  long  one  is 
twelve  or  thirteen  cubits,  and  to  cast  that  with 

220 


WITH   A   CASTING-NET 

accuracy  so  that  it  reaches  the  water  perfectly 
extended  requires  a  very  skilful  hand.  The  bottom 
or  edge  of  the  net  is  weighted  with  small  leaden 
rings  that  sink  it  rapidly  through  the  water,  while 
a  fine  cord  from  the  centre  is  attached  to  the  right 
wrist  of  the  thrower.  The  net  is  usually  dyed  a 
dark  brown  with  a  solution  made  from  the  bark  of 
the  mangrove. 

The  backwater  where  this  annual  netting  is  done 
is  a  long  narrow  strip  of  fairly  deep  water  widening 
slightly  in  the  centre  and  contracting  at  the  ends. 
On  one  side  it  is  bordered  by  a  low  grass-grown 
shore  and  on  the  other  by  a  jungle-covered  bank 
from  which  the  overhanging  branches  cast  dark 
shadows  on  the  glassy  surface,  stirred  here  and 
there  into  tiny  wavelets  by  every  passing  zephyr. 

By  3  P.M.  all  is  ready ;  some  of  the  oldest  and 
most  skilful  netters  stand  in  the  bows  of  the  royal 
barges,  a  dozen  young  rajas  are  in  dug-outs  and 
the  others  are  occupied  by  their  owners,  men  from 
the  neighbouring  villages  who  have  come  to  join  in 
the  sport. 

The  Sultan  gives  the  signal,  and  the  boats  move 
off  slowly  and  at  once  form  themselves  into  a 
crescent,  with  the  royal  barges  in  the  centre.  The 
horns  of  the  crescent  draw  towards  each  other,  the 

221 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

boats  make  a  simultaneous  in-turn,  the  circle  is 
completed,  and  at  the  moment  when  it  becomes 
sufficiently  circumscribed  every  net  is  cast,  covering 
the  whole  surface  of  the  water  within  the  ring  of 
boats.  Directly  the  nets  have  been  cast  they  sink, 
the  paddlers  back-water,  and  each  net  is  slowly 
drawn  to  the  surface  and  the  fish  taken  are  dis- 
engaged from  the  fine  meshes  and  thrown  into  the 
boat  under  the  bamboo  grating. 

Almost  every  net  contains  fish,  and  the  numbers 
vary  from  two  or  three  to  fifty  or  sixty  bright 
silvery  fishes  weighing  from  half  a  pound  to  a 
pound  each. 

The  operation  is  then  repeated,  and  the  fleet  of 
boats  works  its  way  slowly  from  end  to  end  of  the 
backwater,  a  distance  of  about  a  mile. 

Sometimes  every  net  makes  a  good  haul,  some- 
times only  one  or  two  do  very  well,  and  all  the  rest 
indifferently.  It  is  no  easy  matter  with  such  an 
insecure  foothold  to  cast  a  long  and  heavy  net,  but, 
well  done,  the  act  of  casting  is  graceful  and  attrac- 
tive. First  the  slack  of  the  cord  is  taken  up  in 
loops  in  the  right  hand  and  after  it  the  net,  until  the 
leaden  rings  clear  the  boat  and  reach  to  about  the 
thrower's  knee.  Then  with  his  left  hand  he  takes 
up  part  of  the  skirt  of  the  net  and  hangs  it  over  his 

222 


WITH   A   CASTING-NET 

right  arm  and  shoulder.  This  done  he  seizes  the 
balance  of  the  skirt  in  his  left  hand,  swings  his 
body  backwards  and  then  forwards  with  a  strong 
propelling  movement  of  arm,  shoulder,  and  back  that 
sends  the  net  straight  out  over  the  water  to  fall 
perfectly  extended,  like  a  huge  brown  cobweb,  the 
outer  edges  sinking  instantly  under  the  weight  of 
the  leaden  rings  and  drawing  together  by  reason  of 
the  resistance  of  the  inner  surface  of  the  net. 

The  game  looks  easy  enough,  but  try  it  and  you 
will  probably  find  yourself  in  the  water  at  the  first 
cast  with  the  net  tied  up  into  an  inextricable  knot. 

Watch  the  experienced  hand.  The  boats  are 
now  at  a  bend  in  the  middle  of  the  backwater,  the 
circle  is  formed,  the  in-turn  is  given  to  the  bows, 
the  ring  narrows,  and  at  this  moment  the  scene  is 
picturesque  to  a  degree  and  strangely  weird. 

Atmospheric  changes  come  quickly  here ;  the  sky 
has  become  suddenly  overcast,  a  heavy  rain-cloud  is 
being  rapidly  driven  before  a  rising  wind,  and  the 
water  is  now  dark  and  gloomy.  This  cordon  of  low 
black  boats,  so  close  to  each  other  that  they  almost 
touch,  on  every  bow  a  half-bent,  quaintly-clad  form 
with  the  net  hanging  in  graceful  folds  from  arm  and 
shoulder,  while  fifty  dark  earnest  faces  gaze  eagerly 
on  the  narrowing  space.  In  that  instant  it  flashes 

223 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

across  the  spectator's  mind  that  some  mystic  rite  of 
fell  intent  is  to  be  performed  within  that  magic 
zone.  Then  heigh !  Abracadabra !  The  word  is 
given  to  cast,  and  from  fifty  boats  the  nets  fly  out 
with  a  swirl  and  settle  on  the  water  with  a  gentle 
hiss.  But  the  skilful  thrower  waits  for  a  second  or 
two,  knowing  that  the  fish,  frightened  by  this  rain  of 
lead,  will  dash  for  the  only  spot  where  there  seems 
to  be  a  gap.  Then  deftly  he  casts  a  net  with  a 
diameter  of  forty  feet,  and  the  moment  he  strains 
the  cord  he  realises  that  he  has  made  an  extraordi- 
nary capture.  He  pulls  the  net  up  a  little  way,  and 
then,  plunging  his  arms  into  the  water,  grasps  the 
meshes  on  either  side  and  calls  for  help  to  raise  the 
struggling  mass  of  fish.  All  eyes  are  fixed  on  the 
lucky  Raja,  and  as  the  take  is  lifted  into  the  boat 
there  are  shouts  of  delight  and  congratulation  and 
clapping  of  hands  from  the  ladies,  who  are  keenly 
interested.  By  this  single  cast  the  thrower  has 
secured  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  fish,  and  his 
contribution  for  the  afternoon  is  over  seven  hundred 
« tails." 

Just  as  the  furthest  end  of  the  backwater  is 
reached  the  rain,  which  has  been  long  threatening, 
comes  down  in  torrents,  and  there  is  a  race  for 

shelter  and  dry  clothes.     The  dug-outs  with  three 

224 


WITH   A   CASTING-NET 

or  four  paddlers  easily  beat  the  barges  with  a  dozen, 
but  long  before  the  river  is  reached  the  netters  are 
as  wet  as  the  fish,  and  have  a  swim  in  the  warm 
water  of  the  river  before  changing  into  dry  clothes. 

Then  there  is  a  lull  in  the  storm,  and  the  more 
enthusiastic  return  to  the  netting  and,  unmindful  of 
hunger,  darkness,  and  rain,  still  cast  the  nets  till 
IO  P.M.,  when  they  return  thoroughly  tired  out,  but 
happy  in  the  knowledge  that  the  bag  numbers  over 
ten  thousand  fish. 

Amongst  these  late  comers  and  most  ardent 
sportsmen  are  several  ladies  who,  not  satisfied  with 
the  ease  and  dignity  of  a  royal  barge,  have  braved 
the  elements  and  gone  fasting  to  share  the  excite- 
ment of  the  netting  in  the  discomfort  of  the  dug- 
outs. 

That  is  how  the  Sultan  of  Perak's  annual  fishing 
party  takes  its  pleasure,  and  about  the  very  same 
time  His  Highness  of  Pahang  will  be  leading  a 
similar  expedition  in  the  quiet  waters  of  an  old 
channel  of  the  Pahang  River. 

There,  however,  the  method  is  rather  different — 
the  water  is  poisoned  with  the  juice  of  the  tuba  root, 
and  the  stupefied  fish  are  speared  and  netted  as  they 
float  and  swim  aimlessly  about.  The  fun  is  much 

the  same,  perhaps,  but  the  pursuit  is  less  sporting 

225  p 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

than  by  the  means  employed  in  Perak.  It  is  not 
however,  perfectly  easy  to  spear  even  drugged  fish 
without  both  skill  and  practice. 

In  Pahang,  also,  the  pageant  is  conducted  with 
much  state  and  ancientry,  and,  as  the  nature  of  the 
pastime  requires  only  a  moderate  effort,  the  ladies 
of  the  Harim  smile  on  the  proceedings  and,  armed 
with  silken  nets  on  hafts  of  gold,  themselves  essay 
to  scoop  up  the  scaly  quarry.  Amongst  the  ladies 
of  the  Court  are  some  the  exceeding  fairness  of 
whose  skin,  the  perfect  oval  of  their  faces,  and  the 
glances  of  their  liquid  eyes  so  embarrass  the  men 
of  the  party  that  many  a  spear  flies  wide  of  its 
mark. 

There  are  some  things  still  hidden  from  the  ken 
of  Cook  and  the  race  of  Globe  trotters,  and  I  do 
not  fear  to  reveal  the  secrets  of  this  remote  corner 
of  the  earth,  for,  if  any  be  thereby  induced  to  visit 
the  Peninsula  in  search  of  such  displays  as  I  have 
tried  to  describe,  he  will  meet  with  disappointment. 

You  cannot,  in  the  language  of  Western  culture, 
put  a  penny  in  the  slot  and  set  in  motion  the  wheels 
of  this  barbarous  Eastern  figure. 


226 


XIX 
JAMES   WHEELER    WOODFORD    BIRCH 

Such  was  our  friend,  formed  on  the 

good  old  plan, 
A   true   and    brave    and    downright 

honest  man 

WHITTIER 

ON  the  2nd  November  1875,  Mr.  James 
Wheeler  Woodford  Birch,  British  Resident 
of  Perak,  was  assassinated  by  Malays  at  a  place 
called  Pasir  Salak  on  the  Perak  River.  I  propose 
to  describe  why  and  how  this  murder  was  com- 
mitted. 

Mr.  Birch  began  life  as  a  midshipman  in  the 
Royal  Navy.  He  abandoned  the  sea  for  Govern- 
ment employment  in  Ceylon,  where  he  spent  the 
best  years  of  his  life,  and  was  promoted  to  be  Gov- 
ernment Agent  of  the  Eastern  Province,  one  of  the 
highest  positions  in  the  Island.  In  1870  Mr.  Birch 
was  appointed  Colonial  Secretary  of  the  Straits 
Settlements,  and  when  Major-General  Sir  Andrew 

227 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

Clarke,  R.E.,  then  Governor  of  the  Straits  Settle- 
ments, concluded  the  Pangkor  Treaty  with  the  Perak 
Chiefs  in  1874  and  introduced  a  new  departure  in 
the  relations  between  the  British  Government  and 
the  Malay  States,  he  selected  Mr.  Birch  for  the 
difficult  post  of  adviser  to  the  Sultan  of  Perak. 

Mr.  Birch  assumed  his  duties  in  the  end  of  1874, 
and  very  soon  found  that,  looking  to  the  people 
with  whom  he  had  to  deal  and  his  own  power- 
lessness  to  enforce  an  order,  he  had  undertaken  a 
well-nigh  impossible  task.  At  that  time  the  Malay 
Peninsula  was  a  terra  incognita  to  white  men,  and 
the  characteristics,  customs,  peculiarities  and  pre- 
judices of  the  Malay  had  yet  to  be  learnt. 

Of  all  the  States  in  the  Peninsula  Perak  was 
probably  the  least  well  suited  for  the  schooling  of  a 
Resident  and  the  initiation'  of  the  interesting  but 
dangerous  experiment  of  Government  by  the  advice 
of  a  British  officer. 

It  had  a  large  Malay  population,  people  whose 
ancestors  had  for  generations  belonged  to  the  place 
and  who  were  saturated  with  ancient  customs,  pre- 
judices, and  superstitions  that  had  to  be  learned, 
and  with  many  of  which  it  was  difficult  to  sym- 
pathise. It  had  an  unusual  number  of  Rajas  and 
Chiefs,  each  with  some  kind  of  privilege  or  vested 

228 


JAMES   WHEELER   WOODFORD   BIRCH 

interest.  The  revolting  practice  of  debt-slavery, 
under  which  the  slaves  often  suffered  indescribable 
wrongs,  was  rife  in  the  land,  and,  though  contrary 
to  the  Muhammadan  religion,  was  supported  and 
clung  to  by  all  the  upper  classes.  The  State  was 
torn  by  internal  dissensions,  the  jealousies  and 
rivalries  of  opposing  claimants  to  the  Sultanship 
and  other  high  offices.  The  rivers  and  jungle  tracks 
were  the  only  means  of  getting  about  the  country. 
The  white  man  was  an  unknown  and  unfeared 
quantity. 

Mr.  Birch,  unfortunately,  for  all  his  long  Eastern 
experience,  knew  very  little  of  Malays  and  almost 
nothing  of  their  language,  and,  though  he  always 
had  with  him  a  very  capable  Malay  interpreter,  the 
inability  to  carry  on  a  direct  conversation  with  chiefs 
and  people  greatly  increased  his  difficulties.  He  was 
not,  however,  the  man  to  sit  down  in  the  face  of 
opposition  either  to  save  himself  trouble  or  to  ac- 
knowledge defeat,  and  the  consequence  was  that  his 
extraordinary  energy  in  travelling  about  the  country, 
"  spying  out  the  land,"  and  his  persistence  in  attempt- 
ing to  redress  grievances,  to  save  lives,  to  bring  the 
guilty  to  punishment,  and  to  induce  the  then  Sultan 
Abdullah  and  his  immediate  following  to  mend  their 
ways,  earned  him  the  determined  opposition  of  all 

229 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

those  who  disliked  interference,  and  preferred  the 
state  of  uncontrolled  lawlessness  to  which  they  were 
accustomed. 

Mr.  Birch  lived  in  Perak  as  its  Resident  for  barely 
twelve  months,  but  to  trace  with  care  the  reasons 
why  his  relations  with  Abdullah  grew  daily  more 
strained  till  matters  culminated  in  the  assassination 
of  the  Resident,  would  be  to  write  a  volume.  It  is 
sufficient  to  state  a  few  of  the  more  prominent 
facts. 

First,  it  is  necessary  to  say  in  the  most  positive 
terms  that  Mr.  Birch  was  assassinated  solely  and 
entirely  for  political  reasons,  for  the  reasons  I  have 
already  given.  He  was  white,  he  was  a  Christian 
and  a  stranger,  he  was  restless,  climbed  hills  and 
journeyed  all  over  the  country,  he  interfered  with 
murderers  and  other  evil-doers,  he  constantly 
bothered  the  Sultan  about  business  and  kept  press- 
ing him  to  introduce  reforms,  while  every  change  is 
regarded  by  the  Malay  with  suspicion  and  distrust. 
That  was  his  crime  in  their  eyes ;  of  personal  feel- 
ing there  was  none,  wherever  Mr.  Birch  went  there 
were  people  who  had  to  thank  him  for  some  kind- 
ness, some  attention.  The  Malays  have  always 
admitted  this,  and,  if  it  seems  strange  that  I  should 
make  a  point  of  the  motive,  it  is  because  Europeans 

230 


JAMES   WHEELER   WOODFORD   BIRCH 

who  did  not  know  have  suggested  that  the  Resident's 
murder  was  due  to  non-political  causes,  a  suggestion 
for  which  there  is  not  a  semblance  of  foundation. 

By  September  1875,  matters  had  come  to  a  dead- 
lock. With  the  Resident,  in  what  was  called  the 
down-stream  country,  was  a  Sultan,  Abdullah, 
created  by  the  British  Government,  but  declining  to 
accept  the  advice  of  the  Resident  who  had  been 
appointed  at  his  special  request.  Abdullah's  opposi- 
tion was  mainly  negative  but  absolutely  effective, 
for  as  the  Resident  could  only  tender  advice  and 
had  no  commission,  and  no  sufficient  means  to 
compel  its  adoption,  his  voice  was  that  of  one 
"  crying  in  the  wilderness."  Up-stream  there  was 
another  Sultan,  Ismail,  elected  by  some  of  the  chiefs 
but  admitted  to  have  no  sufficient  claim  to  the  post. 
Between  the  partisans  of  these  rival  Sultans,  very 
strained  relations  existed. 

Then  there  was  another  claimant  to  the  Sultan- 
ship  in  the  person  of  the  Raja  Muda  Jusuf,  who 
lived  still  further  up  country,  and  while  his  claims 
were  undoubtedly  the  best,  his  personal  unpopu- 
larity was  so  great  that  the  people  would  not  accept 
him  as  Sultan. 

The  success  of  the  Residential  idea  (for  no  one 

had  attempted  to  formulate  any  scheme  or  system) 

231 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

depended  on  the  existence  of  mutual  confidence  and 
friendship  between  Sultan  and  Resident.  That  was, 
unfortunately,  wanting,  and,  as  after  many  months 
of  patient  effort  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Birch  the  desired 
result  seemed  further  away  than  ever,  the  governor 
of  the  neighbouring  colony  (then  Major-General  Sir 
W.  Jervois,  R.E.)  determined  to  visit  Perak  and  see 
what  chance  there  was  of  establishing  administra- 
tive authority,  collecting  revenue,  and  otherwise 
carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the  Pangkor  Treaty. 

As  the  result  of  that  visit  and  of  interviews 
between  the  Governor  and  the  Chiefs,  a  proposition 
was  made  to  Sultan  Abdullah  that  the  government 
of  the  State  should  be  carried  on  in  his  name  by 
British  officers.  He  hesitated  for  some  days,  but, 
finding  that  the  Raja  Muda  and  others  had  at  once 
and  gladly  accepted  the  suggestion,  he  determined 
to  do  the  same,  fearing,  no  doubt,  that  otherwise  he 
might  be  left  out  of  the  administration  altogether. 

It  was  the  Malay  fasting-month,  the  bulan  pudsa, 
when  these  last  events  occurred.  It  is  not  an 
auspicious  time  for  conducting  negotiations  with 
Malays,  they  do  not  even  attempt  to  work  for  that 
month,  they  sleep  for  most  of  the  day  and  sit  up 
most  of  the  night,  eating  and  talking,  discussing 
affairs  and  hatching  plots.  This,  at  least,  is  the  case 

232 


JAMES   WHEELER   WOODFORD   BIRCH 

with  the  upper  classes,  and  it  is  they  only  who  are 
concerned  in  political  movements ;  the  common 
people  do  not  fast  as  a  rule,  and  leave  the  plotting 
to  the  chiefs,  whose  business  they  think  it  is  to 
scheme  and  to  direct,  theirs  to  obey. 

In  Lower  Perak  during  this  particular  month  of 
Ramthan,  an  unusual  amount  of  discussion  had 
been  carried  on  between  Sultan  Abdullah  and  his 
chiefs,  and  they  determined  not  only  that  the 
British  Resident  should  be  got  rid  of,  but  one 
of  them,  entitled  the  Maharaja  Lela,  undertook  to 
do  the  business  the  next  time  Mr.  Birch  visited 
him. 

This  man,  the  Maharaja  Lela,  was  a  chief  of  con- 
siderable rank,  after  the  Sultan  he  was  the  seventh 
in  the  State.  He  lived  at  Pasir  Salak,  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  Perak  River,  about  thirty  miles  above 
the  residence  of  Sultan  Abdullah,  and  about  forty 
below  that  of  ex-Sultan  Ismail.  He  avoided  Mr. 
Birch  whenever  it  was  possible  (though  living  only 
five  miles  from  him),  and  managed  to  keep  friends 
with  both  Sultans. 

During  the  month,  Sultan  Abdullah,  who  was 
then  with  his  boats  at  Pasir  Panjang,  a  couple  of 
miles  below  the  Maharaja  Lela's  house,  summoned 
his  chiefs  and  informed  them  that  he  had  given  over 

233 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

the  government  of  the  country  to  Mr.  Birch.  This 
announcement  was  received  in  silence  by  the  others, 
to  whom  it  was  doubtless  no  news,  but  the  Maha- 
raja Lela  said,  "  Even  if  your  Highness  has  done 
so,  I  do  not  care  at  all.  I  will  never  acknowledge 
the  authority  of  Mr.  Birch  or  the  white  men.  I 
have  received  letters  from  Sultan  Ismail,  the  Mentri 
and  the  Penglima  Kinta  telling  me  on  no  account  to 
obey  the  English  Government  in  Perak.  I  will  not 
allow  Mr.  Birch  to  set  his  foot  in  my  kampong  at 
Pasir  Salak." 

The  Sultan  said,  "  Do  you  really  mean  that, 
Maharaja  Lela?"  and  the  Chief  replied,  " Truly  I 
will  not  depart  in  the  smallest  degree  from  the  old 
arrangement." 

Another  chief,  the  Datoh  Sagor,  who  lived  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river,  exactly  opposite  to  Pasir 
Salak,  said,  "  What  the  Maharaja  Lela  does  I  will 
do." 

The  Sultan  then  got  up  and  withdrew. 

Two  or  three  days  before  the  end  of  the  month 
the  Sultan  called  another  meeting  of  his  chiefs  at  a 
place  called  Durian  Sa'batang,  ten  miles  below  the 
small  island  on  which  the  Resident's  hut  stood. 
At  that  meeting  the  Sultan  produced  the  proclama- 
tions which  were  to  be  issued,  placing  the  ad- 

234 


JAMES   WHEELER   WOODFORD   BIRCH 

ministration  in  the  hands  of  British  officers,  and 
asked  his  chiefs  what  they  thought  of  them.  The 
Laksamana,  an  influential  chief,  said,  "  Down  here, 
in  the  lower  part  of  the  river,  we  must  accept  the 
proclamations  "  ;  but  the  Maharaja  Lela  said,  "  In 
my  kampong  I  will  not  allow  any  white  man  to  post 
those  proclamations.  If  they  insist  on  doing  so, 
there  will  certainly  be  a  fight."  To  this  the  Sultan 
and  other  chiefs  said,  "  Very  well." 

The  Maharaja  Lela  immediately  left,  and  having 
loaded  his  boats  with  rice,  returned  up  river  to  his 
own  kampong. 

Pasir  Salak  was  the  usual  collection  of  Malay 
houses  scattered  about  in  groves  of  palm  and  fruit 
trees  by  the  river-bank.  Prominent  amongst  these 
was  the  Maharaja  Lela's  own  dwelling,  a  large  and 
comparatively  new  building  of  a  more  than  ordin- 
arily substantial  kind,  round  which  he  had  for 
months  past  been  digging  a  great  ditch  and  throw- 
ing up  a  formidable  earthwork  crowned  by  a 
palisade.  These  preparations  had  been  duly  noted 
by  the  Resident. 

Arrived  at  his  own  home,  the  Maharaja  Lela  sent 
out  messengers  to  summon  all  the  men  in  his 
immediate  neighbourhood,  and  when  they  were 
collected  he  addressed  them  and  stated  that  Mr. 

235 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

Birch  was  coming  up  the  river  in  a  few  days,  and 
that,  if  he  attempted  to  post  any  notices  there,  the 
orders  of  the  Sultan  and  the  down-river  chiefs  were 
to  kill  him.  The  assembled  people  said  that,  if 
those  were  the  commands  of  the  Sultan  and  the 
Maharaja  Lela,  they  would  carry  them  out.  The 
chief  then  handed  his  sword  to  a  man  called  Pandak 
Indut,  his  father-in-law,  and  directed  that  everyone 
should  give  to  him  the  same  obedience  as  to  him- 
self. The  people  then  dispersed.  It  was  one  or 
two  days  after  this  that  Mr.  Birch  arrived  at  Pasir 
Salak. 

Before  describing  the  events  of  the  2nd  Novem- 
ber I  must  go  back  for  a  moment. 

A  number  of  officers,  of  whom  I  was  one,  had 
accompanied  Sir  W.  Jervois  in  his  journey  to 
Perak.  When  the  Governor  and  those  with  him 
left  the  State  I  was  directed  to  remain  behind  with 
Mr.  Birch  to  assist  him  in  his  negotiations  with  the 
chiefs.  A  fortnight  later  I  went  to  Singapore  with 
important  papers  and  the  drafts  of  proclamations 
defining  the  authority  of  the  Resident  under  the  new 
arrangement.  These  proclamations  were  printed, 
and  I  returned  to  Perak  with  them,  joining  Mr. 
Birch  in  his  house  on  the  26th  October. 

I  found  the  Resident  had  met  with  an  accident ; 
236 


JAMES   WHEELER   WOODFORD   BIRCH 

he  had  slipped  down  and  so  badly  sprained  his 
ankle  that  he  could  not  walk  without  crutches. 
Lieut.  Abbott,  R.N.,  and  four  bluejackets  were  at 
Bandar  Bharu  (the  Residency),  where  were  also 
quartered  the  Sikh  guard  (about  eighty  men),  the 
boatmen,  and  others. 

Mr.  Birch  undertook  to  distribute  the  proclama- 
tions himself  in  the  down-river  districts,  and 
directed  me  to  go  up  river,  to  interview  the  ex- 
Sultan  Ismail,  the  Raja  Muda,  the  Raja  Bendahara, 
and  other  up-country  chiefs,  and,  having  distributed 
the  proclamations  at  all  important  villages  from 
Kota  Lama  downwards,  to  try  to  meet  him  at 
Pasir  Salak  on  the  3rd  November.  There,  he  told 
me,  he  expected  trouble  for  which  he  was  quite 
prepared. 

The  Sikh  guard  was  in  a  state  bordering  on 
mutiny  in  the  evening  of  the  27th,  but  by  the 
following  morning  they  seemed  to  have  returned 
to  their  senses,  and  about  noon  I  left  Bandar 
Bharu  with  two  boats  for  the  interior,  Mr.  Birch 
starting  down  stream  at  the  same  time. 

He  must  have  got  through  his  part  of  the  work 
more  rapidly  than  he  expected,  for  he  reached 
Pasir  Salak  with  three  boats  at  midnight  on  the 
ist  November,  and  anchored  in  midstream.  The 

237 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

1st  November  was  the  Hdri  Raya,  the  first  day 
after  the  Fast.  At  daylight  his  boats  went  along- 
side the  bank,  and  the  Resident's  own  boat  was 
made  fast  to  the  floating  bath-house  of  a  Chinese 
jeweller,  whose  little  shop  stood  on  the  high  bank 
a  few  feet  from  the  riverside.  This  was  the  only 
Chinese  house  in  Pasir  Salak. 

Mr.  Birch  was  accompanied  by  Lieut.  Abbott, 
an  armed  guard  of  twelve  Sikhs,  a  Sikh  orderly, 
the  Malay  interpreter  (an  eminently  respectable 
Malay  of  nearly  fifty  named  Muhammad  Arshad), 
and  a  number  of  Malay  boatmen  and  servants. 
There  must  have  been  about  forty  people  in  the 
party.  Mr.  Birch  had  with  him  a  3-Pr.  brass  gun, 
a  small  mortar,  and  a  number  of  English  fire-arms 
and  Malay  weapons,  besides  other  property. 

Directly  after  their  arrival  Mr.  Abbott  borrowed 
a  small  boat  from  the  Chinaman  and  went  across 
the  river  to  Kampong  Gajah  to  shoot  snipe,  the 
Chief  of  that  place,  the  Datoh  Sagor,  returning  in 
the  boat  to  Pasir  Salak,  where  he  at  once  sought 
an  interview  with  Mr.  Birch. 

After  this  conversation,  which  was  held  in  the 
Resident's  boat,  the  Datoh  Sagor  and  Mr.  Birch's 
interpreter  went  to  the  Maharaja  Lela's  house,  and 
the  interpreter  said  to  the  Maharaja  Lela  that  the 

238 


JAMES   WHEELER   WOODFORD   BIRCH 

Resident  wished  to  see  him  and  would  go  to  his 
house  for  that  purpose,  but  if  the  Chief  preferred 
it,  and  would  go  to  Mr.  Birch's  boat,  he  would  be 
glad  to  meet  him  there.  The  Maharaja  Lela  said, 
41 1  have  nothing  to  do  with  Mr.  Birch,"  and  the 
interpreter  returned  to  the  boat  and  reported  to  his 
master  the  result  of  his  interview. 

The  news  of  the  Resident's  arrival  had  been 
spread  in  every  direction,  and  all  those  in  the 
neighbourhood  were  ordered  to  come  in.  By  this 
time,  sixty  or  seventy  men  had  assembled  and  were 
now  standing  about  on  the  bank  of  the  river  close 
to  Mr.  Birch's  boats.  They  were  all  armed  with 
spears  and  krises,  and  Mr.  Birch  asked  the  Datoh 
Sagor  what  they  wanted,  and  that  they  should  be 
told  to  stand  further  away.  The  Datoh  told  them 
to  move  away,  and  they  gave  a  few  yards,  but  at  the 
same  time  began  to  abuse  the  Resident,  calling  him 
an  "  infidel,"  and  asking  what  he  meant  by  coming 
there  asking  questions  and  speaking  like  one  in 
authority.  Probably  the  Resident  did  not  under- 
stand these  ominous  signs,  but  his  boatmen  heard 
and  realised  that  trouble  was  brewing. 

Mr.  Birch  now  gave  some  proclamations  to  the 
interpreter,  who  took  them  on  shore  and  posted 
them  on  the  shutters  of  the  Chinaman's  shop. 

239 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

Almost  immediately,  Pandak  Indut,  the  Maharaja 
Lela's  father-in-law,  tore  them  down  and  took  them 
off  to  the  Maharaja  Lela's  house.  That  chiefs 
dictum,  was  "  Pull  down  the  proclamations,  and,  if 
they  persist  in  putting  them  up,  kill  them."  Then 
it  may  be  supposed  he  washed  his  hands  of  all 
responsibility,  and  Pandak  Indut  went  out  to 
execute  his  master's  orders. 

Meanwhile,  Mr.  Birch  had  handed  to  his  inter- 
preter some  more  proclamations  to  replace  those 
removed,  and,  after  giving  directions  to  prepare  his 
breakfast,  went  into  the  Chinaman's  bath-house  to 
bathe,  leaving  his  Sikh  orderly  at  the  door  with  a 
loaded  revolver.  This  bath-house  was  of  the  type 
common  in  Perak,  two  large  logs  floating  in  the 
stream,  fastened  together  by  cross-pieces  of  wood, 
and  on  them  built  a  small  house  with  mat  sides 
about  five  feet  high,  and  a  roof  closing  on  the  sides 
but  leaving  two  open  triangular  spaces  at  front  and 
back.  The  structure  is  so  moored  that  it  floats 
parallel  to  the  bank,  and  a  person  even  standing 
up  inside  it  cannot  see  what  is  taking  place  on  the 
shore  close  by. 

It  was  now  about  10  A.M.,  and  in  spite  of  the 
threatening  attitude  of  the  large  crowd  of  armed 
Malays  standing  in  groups  and  passing  between 

240 


JAMES   WHEELER   WOODFORD   BIRCH 

the  river-bank  and  their  chiefs  house,  the  Resident 
was  composedly  bathing  in  the  river,  while  his 
people  were  some  of  them  cooking  on  the  bank, 
others  sleeping  in  the  boats,  and  a  few,  the  Malays, 
anxiously  expectant,  fearing  the  signs  boded  a 
catastrophe. 

They  had  not  long  to  wait.  The  interpreter 
was  still  replacing  the  proclamations  on  the  China- 
man's hut,  when  Pandak  Indut  and  a  number  of 
other  men  came  quickly  from  the  Maharaja  Lela's 
house. 

The  crowd  asked,  "  What  are  the  Chiefs 
orders  ?  " 

Pandak  Indut  replied,  "  He  leaves  the  matter  to 
me." 

Going  straight  up  to  the  Chinese  shop,  he  began 
tearing  down  the  newly-posted  papers ;  the  inter- 
preter protested,  and,  seeing  no  heed  was  paid  to 
him,  turned  towards  the  bath-house.  He  had  not 
made  half  a  dozen  steps,  when  Pandak  Indut  over- 
took him  and  thrust  his  spear  into  the  man's 
abdomen.  The  wounded  man  fell  down  the  bank 
into  the  river  and  caught  hold  of  his  master's  boat, 
but  others  followed  him  and  cut  him  over  the  head 
and  hands,  so  that  he  let  go  and  struggled  out  into 
the  stream. 

241  Q 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

The  interpreter  disposed  of,  Pandak  Indut  cried 
out,  "  Here  is  Mr.  Birch  in  the  bath-house,  come, 
let  us  kill  him,"  and,  followed  by  three  or  four  others 
shouting  amok,  amok,  they  leapt  on  to  the  floating 
timbers  and  thrust  their  spears  through  the  open 
space  in  the  front  of  the  house. 

At  that  time  men  in  the  boats  could  see  Mr. 
Birch's  head  above  the  mat  wall ;  it  disappeared 
without  any  sound  from  him,  and  a  moment  after  he 
came  to  the  surface  of  the  water  astern  of  the  house. 
Some  of  the  murderers  were  already  waiting  there, 
and  one  of  them,  a  man  called  Siputum,  slashed 
the  Resident  over  the  head  with  a  sword.  He  sank 
and  was  not  seen  again. 

The  Sikh  orderly,  standing  with  a  revolver  at  the 
<loor  of  the  bath-house,  jumped  into  the  river  with- 
out any  warning  to  his  master,  swam  off  to  one  of 
•the  boats  and  saved  himself. 

The  river-bank  was  now  the  scene  of  a  general 
melee.  A  Malay  boatman  and  a  Sikh  had  been 
killed,  but  the  others  had  got  one  of  the  boats  away 
from  the  bank  into  midstream  and  towards  it  two 
of  Mr.  Birch's  Malays  were  swimming  while  they 
supported  the  grievously  wounded  interpreter. 
With  difficulty  they  gained  the  boat  and  got  the  man 

in.     As  they  dropped  down  the  river  Mr.  Birch's 

242 


JAMES   WHEELER   WOODFORD   BIRCH 

coxswain  urged  the  Sikhs  to  fire  on  the  Malays, 
but  they  said  they  could  not  do  so  without  an 
order  !  He  accordingly  gave  the  order,  and  some 
shots  were  fired  which  for  a  moment  cleared  the 
bank.  A  small  boat  with  two  men  in  it  put  out 
lower  down  stream  to  intercept  the  fugitives,  and 
two  of  them  were  wounded  by  shots  from  these 
men.  The  coxswain  then  wrenched  a  rifle  from  a 
Sikh  and  shot  one  of  these  assailants.  After  this 
the  boat  proceeded  unmolested  to  Bandar  Bharu. 
Long  before  they  arrived  there  the  interpreter  died. 

Mr.  Abbott,  shooting  on  the  other  bank,  was 
warned  of  what  had  taken  place,  and  with  great 
difficulty  got  into  a  dug-out  and  made  his  way  down 
stream  under  the  fire  of  the  Malays  on  the  bank. 

The  attack,  the  murder  of  the  Resident,  his  in- 
terpreter, the  Sikh  and  the  boatman,  and  the  escape 
of  the  rest  of  the  party  was  the  work  of  a  few 
minutes.  Whilst  still  the  passion  of  strife  and 
bloodthirst  swayed  the  crowd,  the  Maharaja  Lela 
walked  into  their  midst  and  asked  whose  hands  had 
done  the  Resident  and  his  men  to  death.  Instantly 
Pandak  Indut,  Siputum,  and  the  others,  claimed 
credit  for  their  murderous  work.  The  Chief  said, 
"  It  is  well,  none  but  those  who  struck  blows  can 
share  in  the  spoil.'1  He  then  called  a  man  forward 

243 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

and  said,  "  Go  and  tell  the  Laksamana  that  I  have 
killed  Mr.  Birch."  The  message  was  delivered  the 
same  day,  and  the  Laksamana  said,  "  Very  well,  I 
will  tell  the  Sultan." 

That  evening  the  Maharaja  Lela  sent  a  letter  to 
ex-Sultan  Ismail  describing  what  he  had  done,  and,. 
to  remove  any  doubt  on  the  subject,  he  sent  with  it 
the  Resident's  own  boat. 

These  are  the  facts  about  Mr.  Birch's  assassina- 
tion, and  it  may  be  of  some  interest  to  add  that  the 
Resident's  two  boats  were  immediately  rifled  and 
all  their  contents  carried  up  to  the  Maharaja  Lela's 
house. 

An  attack  upon  the  Residency  was  planned,, 
ordered  to  be  carried  out  that  night,  and  a  number 
of  men  started  on  the  expedition,  and  even  got 
within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  Bandar  Bharu  ;  but 
it  began  to  rain,  and  a  man  at  whose  house  the 
party  called  told  them  they  would  get  a  warm 
reception,  and  it  would  be  quite  a  different  thing  to 
murdering  the  Resident,  so  they  elected  to  return 
with  their  object  unattained. 

By  the  help  of  a  friendly  Malay,  a  foreigner, 
Mr.  Birch's  body  was  recovered,  brought  to  Bandar 
Bharu,  and  there  buried  on  the  night  of  the  6th 

November. 

244 


JAMES   WHEELER   WOODFORD   BIRCH 

The  Maharaja  Lela  and  his  neighbour  the  Datoh 
Sagor,  having  "  burnt  their  ships/'  proceeded  to 
stockade  their  villages,  and  those  stockades  were 
subsequently  taken,  the  rebels  driven  out,  and  their 
villages  destroyed. 

Sooner  or  later  punishment  overtook  every  man 
directly  concerned  in  this  crime,  and  also  nearly 
all  those  who  were  indirectly  responsible.  Some 
fell  during  the  subsequent  fighting,  one  died  an 
outlaw  in  the  jungle. 

The  first  man  captured  was  Siputum.  He  was 
brought  in  to  Bandar  Bharu  late  one  evening  in  the 
early  part  of  1876,  and  I  went  to  see  him  in  the 
lock-up  about  midnight.  A  wilder  looking  creature 
it  would  have  been  hard  to  find.  He  was  a 
Pdwang,  a  medicine  man,  a  sorcerer.  For  many 
weeks  he  had  been  a  hunted  outcast,  and  he  seemed 
to  think  that  capture  was  almost  preferable  to  the 
life  he  had  been  leading.  He  sat  on  the  floor  and 
described  to  me  his  share  in  Mr.  Birch's  murder, 
pausing  between  the  sentences  to  kill  mosquitoes 
on  the  wall  of  his  cell.  He  volunteered  the  state- 
ment that  Mr.  Birch  was  a  good  man,  who  had 
been  kind  to  him,  and  that  what  he  did  was  by 
order  of  his  Chief,  whom  he  was  bound  to  obey. 
The  responsibility  of  the  individual  for  his  own 

245 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

actions  was  a  doctrine  that  was  strange  to  him, 
and  he  learnt  it  too  late  to  profit  by  it. 

In  December  1876,  the  Maharaja  Lela,  the 
Datoh  Sagor,  Pandak  Indut,  and  four  others  were 
arraigned  before  the  Raja  Muda  Jusuf  and  Raja 
Alang  Husein,  and  charged  with  murdering  Mr. 
Birch  and  the  others  at  Pasir  Salak  on  the  2nd 
November  1875. 

They  were  prosecuted  by  Colonel  Dunlop,  R.A.> 
and  myself,  on  behalf  of  the  Government,  and 
defended  by  an  able  and  experienced  member  of 
the  Singapore  Bar.  After  a  trial  which  lasted 
eight  days,  they  were  severally  found  guilty  and 
condemned  to  death,  but  the  extreme  penalty  was 
exacted  only  in  the  cases  of  the  three  first  named. 

Sultan  Abdullah,  and  other  Chiefs  whose  com- 
plicity in  the  assassination  was  established  by  the 
fullest  evidence,  were  banished  from  the  State,  and 
a  like  sentence  was  passed  upon  the  ex-Sultan 
Ismail  and  some  of  his  adherents. 

In  Mr.  Birch  the  British  Government  lost  one  of 
its  most  courageous,  able,  and  zealous  officers,  but,, 
by  the  action  which  his  death  made  necessary,  the 
State  of  Perak  gained  in  twelve  months  what  ten 
years  of  "  advice  "  could  hardly  have  accomplished. 
That  was  not  all,  for  the  events  of  those  twelve 

246 


JAMES   WHEELER   WOODFORD   BIRCH 

months,  when  they  came  to  be  fully  known,  threw 
a  light  on  the  inner  life  of  the  Malay  and  his- 
peculiar  characteristics,  that  was  an  the  nature  of  a 
revelation.  It  is  all  too  soon  to  forget  the  lesson* 
or  disregard  its  teachings. 


247 


XX 
A    PERSONAL   INCIDENT 


Haud   multum   abfuit   quin   interfi- 
ceretur 

HORACE 


From  CAPTAIN  SPEEDY,  Queeris  Commissioner, 

Larut,  to  H.E.   SIR  WILLIAM  JERVOIS, 

Governor  of  the  Straits. 

fExtract  :1  LARUT,  November  gth,  1875. 

*'  T  N  the  second  report,  that  of  7th  instant,  Sergeant 
A  Din  states  that  he  was  told  by  one  Kulup 
Riau  that  Mr.  Swettenham  had  been  murdered  by 
the  Raja  Lela  at  Pasir  Salak  on  the  5th  instant.  I 
regret  to  state  that  I  have  every  reason  to  believe 
that  the  report  is  but  too  true.  My  inspector,  Din 
Mahomed,  reached  Kuala  Kangsar  (where  I  sent 
him  with  a  party  of  men  immediately  on  hearing  of 
Mr.  Birch's  death,  to  warn  and  guard  Mr.  Swetten- 
ham) at  2  P.M.  on  4th  instant,  but,  on  his  arrival, 

248 


A   PERSONAL   INCIDENT 

he  found  that  Mr.  Swettenham  had  unfortunately 
left,  to  return  by  the  river  a  few  hours  previously ; 
owing  to  the  rapidity  of  the  current,  the  boats 
should  have  reached  Pasir  Salak  by  the  following 
day.  I  have  sent  detectives,  both  Chinese  and 
Malay,  to  inquire  into  the  matter,  and  to  obtain, 
if  possible,  the  remains  of  these  unfortunate 
officers." 

I  came  across  the  above  passage  in  a  Blue  Book, 
and  I  will  explain  why  Captain  Speedy  had  every 
reason  to  believe  in  the  certainty  of  my  death,  and 
how  it  was  that  my  remains  were  not  to  be  collected 
just  then. 

In  the  preceding  sketch  I  mentioned  that  I  left 
Bandar  Bharu  at  noon  on  the  28th  October  with 
two  boats,  and  intended,  if  it  were  possible,  to 
meet  Mr.  Birch  at  Pasir  Salak  about  the  3rd 
November. 

Besides  the  Malay  boatmen,  I  had  with  me  a  very 
celebrated  Selangor  chief  named  Raja  Mahmud,  a 
man  whose  whole  life  had  been  passed  in  jungle 
warfare,  and  as  he  had  come  through  it  scathless  he 
was  regarded  by  Malays  as  invulnerable  and  re- 
spected accordingly.  His  latest  exploit  had  been 
to  take  command  of  a  body  of  Malays  in  an  engage- 

249 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

ment  with  Her  Majesty's  troops  in  a  neighbouring 
State  (Sungei  Ujong),  and  as  I  had  subsequently 
persuaded  him  to  go  to  Singapore  and  give  himself 
up  to  the  Governor,  he  had  attached  himself  to  me 
and  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  possibility  of  trouble  in 
Perak. 

Then  I  had  a  Manila  boatman,  one  of  the  best 
coxswains  on  the  river,  a  marvellous  dancer  of 
hornpipes  and  no  less  courageous  than  Raja  Mahmud 
himself — more  so  he  could  hardly  be.  Lastly, 
Mahmud  had  a  couple  of  men  devoted  to  himself, 
and  I  had  a  Chinese  servant. 

This  being  the  wet  season  the  river  was  high, 
poling  difficult  and  progress  slow,  so  that  it  was 
not  till  the  morning  of  the  3Oth  that  we  reached 
Blanja,  the  village  of  Sultan  Ismail.  As  Ismail 
had  been  elected  Sultan  by  a  number  of  influential 
chiefs  who  declined  to  recognise  either  Jusuf  or 
Abdullah  (though  both  of  them  had  far  superior 
claims),  and,  as  by  the  Pangkor  Treaty  and  re- 
cognition of  Abdullah,  Ismail  no  doubt  felt  aggrieved, 
I  did  not  expect  a  very  friendly  reception  from  him, 
nor  did  I  suppose  that  I  should  be  specially  welcome 
as  the  bearer  of  proclamations  which  could  not  be 
otherwise  than  distasteful  to  him.  It  was  only  six 
weeks  since  I  had  been  at  Blanja  with  the  Governor, 

250 


A   PERSONAL   INCIDENT 

and  again  a  fortnight  later  I  went  there  alone.  Since 
then  Ismail  (or  his  advisers  in  his  name)  had 
summoned  nearly  all  the  principal  people  of  the 
upper  country,  and  a  very  large  number  of  boats 
had  arrived  at  Blanja,  bringing  all  the  chiefs  and 
their  retainers.  Moreover,  to  increase  his  following 
the  ex-Sultan  had  resorted  to  an  expedient  not  un- 
known in  England ;  certain  high  offices  of  State 
were  vacant,  and  into  these  he  inducted  his  own 
adherents — in  fact,  created  peers,  to  give  himself  a 
majority  in  the  Upper  House. 

I  waited  half  the  day  hoping  to  see  Ismail,  but 
failed.  They  said  he  was  asleep  and  meant  to 
remain  asleep  a  long  time.  That  is  a  common  form 
of  Malay  diplomacy,  and,  as  I  could  not  afford  to 
delay  longer,  I  explained  the  proclamations,  left  a 
number  of  copies  and  said  I  would  call  on  Ismail 
on  my  way  back  in  a  few  days.  As  a  piece  ot 
news  they  told  me  a  customs  station  had  been 
established  at  Blanja,  and  everyone  who  passed 
would  be  taxed,  white  men  or  Malays.  I  said  I 
should  be  glad  to  see  the  collector,  and  he  was  in- 
troduced, but  seemed  embarrassed,  and  assured  me 
he  was  only  carrying  out  his  master's  orders,  so  I 
continued  my  journey.  If  any  conclusion  could  be 

drawn   from  the   conversation   and  manner  of  the 

251 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

Blanja  people,  disturbances  (war,  they  called  it)  were 
imminent. 

The  next  day  I  was  at  the  Raja  Muda's  village, 
.and  had  a  long  talk  with  him.  He  also  was  for 
war,  but  did  not  think  the  Malays  would  begin  it. 
He  said  no  good  would  be  done  in  the  country,  till 
Al  the  malcontents  "  had  been  taught  a  lesson.  Un- 
fortunately, as  far  as  could  be  seen,  all  the  chiefs 
with  very  few  exceptions,  were  in  that  category. 
The  people  hardly  count,  they  are  passive  and 
recognise  that  they  live  to  obey  their  leaders. 

That  night  I  reached  Kuala  Kangsar,  and  the 
then  important  personage  of  the  place,  an  old  lady 
who  lived  on  the  hill  where  now  the  Residency 
stands,  informed  me  that  she  had  been  living  in 
daily  fear  of  attack  by  the  people  of  a  neighbouring 
village  called  Kota  Lama.  The  shops  in  Kuala 
Kangsar  were  all  closed,  and  everyone  was  waiting 
for  the  bursting  of  the  storm. 

The  latest  excitement  here  was  that  a  notoriously 
bad  character  named  Raja  Alang,  living  in  a  house 
by  the  path  which  led  from  Kuala  Kangsar  to  the 
neighbouring  district  of  Larut,  saw  a  foreign  Malay 
(a  man  of  Patani)  walking  past  with  his  wife  and 
two  children.  When  the  man  got  opposite  Raja 
Alang's  house  he  raised  his  trousers  to  keep  them 

252 


A   PERSONAL   INCIDENT 

out  of  the  mud,  and  as  Raja  Alang  considered  this 
disrespectful  to  him,  he  called  to  the  man  and  told 
him  he  must  pay  a  fine  of  a  hundred  dollars.  The 
man  was  of  course  unable  to  comply  with  this  mon- 
strous demand,  so  the  Raja  took  him,  his  wife  and 
children,  into  the  house,  and  said  he  would  keep 
them  there  till  the  money  was  paid.  After  a  couple 
of  days,  during  which  they  were  given  no  food, 
Raja  Alang  said  he  would  sell  the  woman  and  chil- 
dren to  raise  the  amount  of  the  fine.  Just  at  dawn 
on  the  following  morning  the  Patani  man  got  up, 
took  from  a  Malay  lying  near  him  a  kris,  and  with 
it  stabbed  the  owner  to  death.  Then  he  struck  out 
wildly,  killing  another  man,  a  woman,  his  own  two 
children,  and  a  child  of  Raja  Alang,  while  he 
wounded  his  own  wife.  Raja  Alang  hastily  left  the 
house,  hurting  himself  considerably,  for  he  forgot 
the  steps  in  the  hurry  of  his  exit.  The  murderer 
went  next  door  and  killed  two  more  women  and 
then  escaped.  Altogether  he  killed  nine  people  and 
wounded  three.  It  is  a  detail,  I  mention  it  only  as 
showing  the  state  of  society,  and  because  this  inci- 
dent, at  the  time  of  my  arrival,  was,  with  rumours 
of  war,  dividing  the  interests  of  the  people  of  Kuala 
Kangsar. 

On  the  ist  November  I  read  and  posted  the  pro- 
253 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

clamations  in  Kuala  Kangsar,  and  on  the  following 
day  I  went  to  see  the  Raja  Bendahara,  the  third 
highest  officer  in  the  State.  He  lived  across  the 
river,  and  to  him  and  a  large  crowd  of  his  followers 
I  read  the  proclamation,  and  gave  the  Bendahara 
some  copies,  which  I  asked  him  to  have  posted. 

Amongst  the  crowd  was  Raja  Alang,  who  gave 
me  his  version  of  the  amok,  and  denied  that  he  had 
ill-treated  the  Patani  man.  I  see  from  the  journal 
I  kept  in  those  days  that  I  expressed  my  surprise 
that  such  things  were  not  of  daily  occurrence,  look- 
ing to  the  infamous  way  in  which  the  people  were 
treated  by  the  Rajas,  to  which  he  replied  that  he  had 
done  wrong  but  was  now  taubat  (a  reformed  cha- 
racter), that  he  wished  to  go  to  Mecca  (the  desire 
of  all  Malays  who  want  to  wipe  out  a  bad  record 
and  rehabilitate  themselves  with  society),  and  would 
be  obliged  if  I  would  lend  him  a  thousand  dollars 
for  the  purpose ! 

On  the  3rd  November  I  distributed  the  proclama- 
tions in  villages  between  Kuala  Kangsar  and  Larut, 
and  in  the  afternoon  went  with  Raja  Mahmud  and 
one  boat  up  river  to  Kota  Lama.  This  village  had 
then,  as  indeed  it  has  still,  the  unenviable  reputa- 
tion of  being  the  most  impossible  place  in  Perak. 
It  was  a  very  large  village,  and  the  people  in  it 

254 


A   PERSONAL   INCIDENT 

prided  themselves  on  their  independence ;  their 
neighbours  called  it  impudence.  A  few  months 
before  Mr.  Birch  had  visited  Kota  Lama,  but  the 
people  turned  out  with  firearms,  and  said  that  if  he 
landed  they  would  shoot  him.  He  had  no  means 
of  forcing  a  landing  then,  nor  of  compelling  an 
apology  later,  and,  therefore,  he  had  not  since  been 
to  the  place. 

I  had  been  in  Kota  Lama  a  month  before  this  ; 
I  went  to  see  a  man  who  had  been  shot  through 
the  shoulder  the  night  before  by  two  men  who  had 
a  grudge  against  him,  and  had  settled  it  in  a 
truly  Irish  fashion.  They  called  at  his  house,  and 
while  engaging  him  in  conversation  and  eating  his 
streh,  had  measured  the  distance  of  his  sleeping  mat 
from  the  walls  of  the  house.  It  was  a  wooden 
building,  and,  like  all  Malay  houses,  the  floor  was 
raised  high  above  the  ground.  That  night  they 
had  got  underneath  it,  and,  having  carefully  calcu- 
lated their  host's  position,  they  fired  simultaneously 
and  decamped.  One  bullet  missed  the  victim's 
head  by  an  inch  or  two,  and  the  other  went  through 
the  floor  and  the  mat  and  penetrated  his  shoulder. 

I  now  went  to  see  this  man  again  and  found  him 
doing  badly,  and  advised  his  relatives  to  send  him 
to  Kuala  Kangsar.  Then  we  walked  about  the 

255 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

village,  talked  to  the  people,  and  in  the  absence  of 
the  headman  I  sent  for  his  deputy.  He  came 
accompanied  by  four  or  five  men  all  armed  to  the 
teeth,  and  we  had  a  conversation  wherein  I  think 
each  side  did  its  best  to  "  bluff"  the  other.  It  so 
happened  that  we  had  come  away  without  the  pro- 
clamations, and  I  asked  the  headman  to  send  to 
Kuala  Kangsar,  when  I  got  back,  and  I  would  give 
the  papers,  that  he  might  post  them  in  Kota  Lama. 

He  said  they  only  acknowledged  one  chief  in 
K6ta  Lama,  and  he  was  the  Raja  Bendahara,  and 
they  would  do  nothing  without  his  orders.  I  told 
them  I  would  ask  the  Bendahara  to  give  the 
necessary  instructions,  but  inquired,  "  What  about 
the  Sultan  ?  "  To  which  they  replied  that  he  lived 
a  long  way  off.  They  added,  "We  won't  hinder 
you  if  you  want  to  post  the  proclamations,"  but 
they  did  not  say  it  in  the  politest  fashion,  and  I 
told  them  the  permission  was  unnecessary,  as,  if  I 
had  had  the  proclamations,  I  should  have  posted 
them.  After  this  we  had  a  long  and  comparatively 
friendly  talk,  and  it  was  nearly  dark  when  I  left 
them. 

Raja  Mahmud  stood  by  and  said  nothing,  but 
they  knew  well  enough  who  he  was,  and  it  is 
possible  they  might  have  acted  differently  had  he 

256 


A   PERSONAL   INCIDENT 

not  been  there.  On  our  way  back  he  told  me  he 
was  so  amazed  at  the  way  the  Kota  Lama  men  talked 
that  he  felt  it  wiser  not  to  join  in  vthe  conversation. 

Arrived  at  Kuala  Kangsar,  I  found  the  Raja 
Muda  Jusuf,  and  told  him  the  result  of  my  visit  to 
Kota  Lama.  The  Raja  Muda's  feelings  towards  the 
Kota  Lama  people  were  quite  beyond  expression, 
and  they  were  very  cordially  reciprocated. 

The  next  morning,  the  4th  November,  my  work 
being  done,  I  started  down  river  at  8.30  A.M. 
I  saw  the  Raja  Muda  before  I  left,  and,  again 
referring  to  my  journal,  I  find  that  he  said  :  "  No 
early  or  permanent  settlement  can  be  made  without 
force,  without  making  an  example  of  some  of  the 
opposition.  They  are  quiet  now  because  you  are 
here ;  as  soon  as  you  go  they  will  begin  again.  If 
you  and  Raja  Mahmud  will  come,  and  we  may  use 
force,  we  can  settle  the  matter  in  a  fortnight." 

Little  as  he  thought  it,  the  time  for  force  was  at 
hand,  for  some  was  already  past ;  but  if  his  pre- 
diction was  right,  his  estimate  of  the  means  required 
to  settle  matters  was  over- sanguine. 

Stopping  only  for  breakfast,  my  boats  reached 
Blanja  at  4  P.M.  It  was  my  intention  to  spend 
the  night  there,  interview  ex-Sultan  Ismail,  and 
continue  my  journey  the  next  day. 

257  R 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

The  river  at  Blanja  shoals  rapidly  towards  the 
left  bank,  which  is  bordered  by  a  long  and  wide 
strip  of  sand.  The  boats  of  those  who  call  here 
are  dragged  as  close  in  as  possible,  and  while  our 
men  were  engaged  in  doing  this,  and  still  some 
distance  from  the  shore,  a  man  called  Haji  Ali 
waded  out  to  my  boat  and  came  on  board.  We 
had  noticed  the  unusual  number  of  people  on  the 
sands — not  less  than  two  or  three  hundred — and 
of  boats  alongside  there  were  at  least  fifty,  but  we 
were  hardly  prepared  for  the  news  that  awaited  us. 

This  Haji  Ali,  a  tall,  well-made  man  in  the  prime 
of  life,  was  the  genial  person  of  evil  reputation 
who,  with  Penglima  Prang  Semaun,  had  already 
distinguished  himself  by  murdering  one  of  the  low- 
country  chiefs.  Notwithstanding  this  fact  the  Haji 
was  always  anxious  to  convey  the  impression  that 
he  was  entirely  friendly  to  me,  but  I  distrusted  him 
in  common  with  the  rest  of  the  Blanja  faction. 

Haji  Ali  seated  himself  in  my  boat  and  at  once 
stated  that  Mr.  Birch  had  gone  to  Pasir  Salak,  that 
there  he  and  sixteen  of  his  people  had  been  mur- 
dered by  the  Maharaja  Lela,  who  had  then  attacked 
and  captured  Bandar  Bharu,  killing  all  the  Sikhs 
who  had  not  saved  themselves  by  flight.  This 
news  was  so  startling  that  I  could  not  believe  it  and 
258 


A   PERSONAL   INCIDENT 

said  so,  but  the  man  assured  me  it  was  true,  and 
added  as  a  proof  that  the  Maharaja  Lela  had  sent 
Mr.  Birch's  own  boat  to  Blanja  to  prove  to  Ismail 
the  truth  of  his  statement.  Ismail,  he  said,  had 
declined  to  receive  the  boat,  telling  the  men  who 
brought  it  that  as  the  Maharaja  Lela  had  killed 
Mr.  Birch  he  had  better  keep  his  boat,  and  the 
messengers  had  accordingly  left  with  it  only  two 
hours  before  our  arrival. 

At  Haji  Ali's  first  words  Raja  Mahmud  had 
caught  up  his  kris,  and  was  now  tightening  his 
waist-belt  and  preparing  for  instant  trouble. 

The  Haji  completed  his  information  by  con- 
siderately telling  me  that  the  Maharaja  Lela  and  his 
people  had  staked  the  river  right  across  at  Pasir 
Salak,  making  it  impassable  for  boats,  that  they 
knew  I  was  returning,  and  were  waiting  for  me,  it 
being  their  belief  that  when  once  they  had  got  rid 
of  Mr.  Birch  and  myself  they  would  have  no  further 
interference  from  white  men,  as  no  one  else  knew 
the  country.  He  concluded  with  an  invitation  from 
the  ex-Sultan  to  go  and  see  him  on  shore. 

I  thanked  him,  and  to  get  rid  of  him  asked  him 
to  go  back  and  say  that  I  was  coming. 

As  soon  as  he  had  left  the  boat  I  held  a  hasty 
consultation  with  Raja  Mahmud,  who  said  it  would 

259 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

be  madness  to  land  at  Blanja,  where  we  should  be 
like  rats  in  a  trap,  and  the  only  course  was  to  go  on  at 
once  and  at  all  hazards  before  they  had  time  to  stop  us. 

The  idea  of  returning  up-river  was  unpleasant  and 
well  nigh  impossible,  it  was  therefore  discarded  at 
once. 

All  the  men  in  both  my  boats  had  heard  what 
Haji  Ali  said,  and  as  some  of  them  did  not  relish 
the  prospect  of  trying  to  run  the  gauntlet,  I  decided 
to  leave  one  boat  and  only  take  those  who  volun- 
teered to  go.  That  question  was  very  soon  settled, 
every  Perak  man  declined  the  journey  ;  my  Manila 
boy  took  the  rudder,  three  foreign  Malays  and 
Mahmud's  two  men  formed  the  crew,  and  Mahmud 
and  I  were  the  passengers.  There  was  my  Chinese 
servant,  he  was  not  a  man  of  war,  and  I  thought  he 
would  prefer  to  remain  where  he  was,  for  they  all 
realised  that  the  danger  would  be  in  staying  with 
me.  When  I  asked  him,  however,  he  smiled  a  not 
quite  pleasant  smile,  and  producing  a  long  knife  said 
he  did  not  mean  to  move.  It  was  quite  clear  that 
if  it  came  to  close  quarters  he  would  give  a  good 
account  of  himself. 

By  this  time  we  were  ready  to  start,  but  just  as 
the  men  were  preparing  to  get  the  boat  out  into 
the  stream,  Haji  Ali  appeared  again  to  take  us  on 

260 


A   PERSONAL   INCIDENT 

shore.  I  at  once  told  him  that  if  his  story  was 
true  I  could  not  stop  at  Blanja  and  must  go  on  at 
once.  How  far  he  had  been  acting  before  was 
doubtful,  but  his  surprise  now  was  genuine  enough. 
He  said,  "It  is  impossible,  the  whole  country  down 
stream  is  in  arms,  you  cannot  pass,  it  is  certain 
destruction."  We  told  him  that  whatever  it  was 
we  were  going,  and  we  pointed  out  to  him  that  as 
the  boat  was  moving  into  deep  water  he  had  not 
much  time  to  get  out  if  he  wanted  to  return  to 
the  shore.  He  got  out,  and  it  was  rather  deep,  but 
he  stood  there  and  shouted,  "  No  doubt  you  think 
yourselves  very  fine  fellows,  but  you  will  be  killed 
all  the  same." 

He  was  still  standing  in  the  same  place  when 
we  had  gone  some  distance,  and  as  we  passed  out- 
side the  long  line  of  boats  the  many  people  on 
shore  realised  that  we  had  started  again  and  were 
rapidly  dropping  down  stream.  It  seemed  to  us 
that  for  them  the  unexpected  had  happened. 

The  pleasure  of  thinking  that  we  had  at  any  rate 
cheated  the  Blanja  people  did  not  last  us  long,  and 
believe  every  man  in  the  boat — certainly  I  can 
speak  for  myself — believed  that  he  had  started  on 
a  journey  of  which  sudden  death  was  the  inevitable 
bourne. 

261 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

The  Resident,  we  were  told,  had  been  murdered 
at  Pasir  Salak,  and  we  could  not  well  doubt  the 
truth  of  that  report.  Then  the  people  on  both 
banks  of  the  river  for  miles  above  and  below  Pasir 
Salak  were  on  the  watch  for  us  ;  the  Residency 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  Maharaja  Lela's  people, 
the  Sikhs  killed  or  fugitives  in  the  jungle  ;  worst  of 
all,  the  river  at  Pasir  Salak  was  staked  from  bank 
to  bank,  and  if  so  no  boat  could  pass  that  barrier. 

There  were  two  points  of  minor  moment — first, 
that  the  Residency  boats  were  all  painted  white,  we 
had  one  of  them,  and  no  native-owned  boat  in  the 
country  was  white.  That  fact  made  us  so  conspi- 
cuous that  we  did  not  think  it  worth  while  to  lower 
the  Union  Jack  we  carried  at  the  stern.  Secondly, 
up  to  that  time  no  house-boat  had  ever  made  the 
journey  from  Blanja  to  Pasir  Salak  in  anything  like 
twelve  hours,  and  we  calculated,  therefore,  that  we 
should  reach  the  point  of  greatest  danger  in  broad 
daylight,  probably  about  9  A.M.  the  next  morning. 
Speed  was  our  best  chance,  but  here  again  we  were 
handicapped  by  the  fact  that  our  men  had  been 
paddling  since  8.30  A.M.,  they  had  had  one  meal, 
and  now  there  was  a  night's  work  before  them  and 
no  time  to  stop  for  cooking. 

If  the  conditions  were  as  they  had  been  stated, 

262 


A   PERSONAL   INCIDENT 

and  as  we  believed  them  to  be,  nothing  could  save 
us,  for  with  two  rifles  and  a  shot  gun  we  could 
hardly  hope  to  force  the  barrier  unless  aided  by  a 
miracle. 

The  river  was  high,  the  current  strong,  and  just 
at  dusk  we  reached  Bota.  Fastened  by  an  island 
opposite  the  village  we  saw  Mr.  Birch's  own  boat, 
the  "  Dragon,"  and  with  that  all  doubt  as  to  his 
fate  was  at  an  end.  Raja  Mahmud  suggested  that 
we  might  stop  and  attack  the  people  in  charge.  The 
idea  was  attractive  and  no  doubt  it  would  have  been 
a  surprise  to  them,  but  we  decided  that  it  was  un- 
wise to  waste  the  time  and  rouse  the  whole  village. 
As  we  passed  the  boat  we  could  see  no  one  in  or 
about  it. 

The  night  was  moonless  but  starlit,  fine  and  clear 
enough  for  our  purpose,  dark  enough  to  conceal  us 
when  we  were  in  the  middle  of  the  stream.  But 
the  Perak  is  a  river  where  the  navigable  channel 
wanders  from  side  to  side  in  a  way  that  often 
baffles  the  most  skilful  pilot.  The  height  of  the 
water  lessened  our  difficulties,  but  for  all  that  we 
were  driven  at  times  very  close  to  the  banks. 
Between  9  and  10  P.M.  a  thick  white  mist  came 
down  and  enveloped  the  river  in  impenetrable  fog. 
This  was  very  confusing,  for,  while  it  lasted,  it  was 

263 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

impossible  to  see  half  a  boat's  length  in  any  direc- 
tion. The  mist  lifted  and  fell  again  at  intervals  all 
through  the  night,  and  so  dense  was  it  that  at  one 
time  we  lost  our  way,  and  at  last  discovered  by  a 
snag  that  we  had  got  the  boat  completely  round 
and  were  paddling  up  stream! 

That  discovery  gave  us  rather  a  bad  shock,  for 
we  calculated  that  we  had  lost  half  an  hour  of  pre- 
cious time,  and  if  we  could  make  such  a  mistake 
once  it  might  occur  again.  It  was  possible  because 
we  dared  not  have  any  light,  and  only  smoked  with 
the  utmost  precaution. 

I  was  so  tired  that  about  half-past  ten  I  could  no 
longer  keep  awake,  and  several  times  the  wearied 
boatmen  dropped  asleep  over  their  paddles.  We 
were  not  at  all  certain  of  our  whereabouts,  but 
some  time  after  eleven  o'clock  we  realised,  by  the 
succession  of  watch-fires  on  the  banks  and  the 
numbers  of  men  moving  about,  that  we  were  getting 
into  the  zone  of  danger.  It  seemed  to  me,  dozing 
and  waking,  that  this  lasted  for  a  long  time  ;  we 
were  getting  callous  of  the  people  on  the  bank  when 
we  found  that  no  one  seemed  to  observe  us  however 
close  we  were  forced  to  go. 

I  had  told  them  to  rouse  me  when  we  got  near 
to  Pasir  Salak,  for  now,  to  our  great  surprise,  it 

264 


A   PERSONAL   INCIDENT 

seemed  evident  that  we  should  reach  the  place 
hours  before  dawn.  About  1.30  A.M.  Mahmud 
quietly  woke  me,  and  the  boatmen  nerved  them- 
selves for  the  final  effort. 

We  knew  that  to  get  past  Pasir  Salak  it  was 
necessary  to  go  right  under  one  bank  or  the  other, 
and  the  deepest  water  was  on  the  left  or  Kampong 
Gajah  side.  That  we  decided  to  take.  Huge  fires 
were  blazing  on  the  bank,  and  round  each  were 
grouped  a  number  of  armed  men — indeed,  the  whole 
place  was  apparently  on  the  qui  vive.  As  noise- 
lessly as  possible,  but  none  the  less  vigorously,  the 
men  plied  their  paddles,  and  we  made  for  the  deep 
water  under  the  bank.  Just  at  this  moment  the 
thick  white  veil  of  mist  came  down  over  the  river, 
and  under  its  sheltering  cover  we  glided  swiftly 
down,  the  light  of  the  blazing  logs,  close  though 
they  were,  shining  vaguely  through  the  fog,  while 
now  and  then  a  man's  figure,  of  seemingly  gigantic 
proportions,  loomed  out  from  the  fire-lit  haze. 

Every  instant  we  expected  to  feel  the  shock  of 
the  boat  against  the  barrier,  and  we  had  determined 
that  when  that  happened  we  would  push  our  boat 
along  it  till  we  found  the  usual  opening  closed  by 
a  floating  log  and  guarded,  as  we  supposed,  by 
boats.  In  the  darkness  we  meant  to  try  and  force 

265 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

our  way  through  or  take  one  of  the  enemy's  boats 
.on  the  down-stream  side  of  the  stakes. 

We  could  hardly  realise  the  truth  when  we 
found  ourselves  at  the  lower  end  of  the  village 
without  having  encountered  an}'  obstruction.  The 
barrier  never  existed  in  fact — only  in  the  imagina- 
tion of  Haji  Ali,  or,  more  probably,  the  Maharaja 
Lela  had  intended  to  make  it,  but  the  Malay  habits 
of  laziness  and  procrastination  defeated  his  plan. 

Just  as  I  was  thinking  a  very  sincere  thanks- 
giving, the  bow  of  the  boat  suddenly  ran  on  the 
shore  and  stuck  there  fast.  We  were  so  close  to 
the  bank  that  this  happened  without  the  slightest 
warning.  For  an  instant  the  steersman  had  given 
the  rudder  a  wrong  turn,  and  we  were  stranded. 
To  my  dismay,  I  saw  on  the  high  bank,  exactly 
over  us,  a  large  fire  with  eight  or  ten  men  round  it. 
I  seized  the  shot-gun,  Mahmud  had  a  rifle,  and  we 
knelt  with  fingers  on  trigger  covering  two  of  the 
figures  that  were  distinct  enough  in  spite  of  the 
mist,  for  we  were  hardly  ten  feet  distant  from  them. 

Two  of  our  men  with  poles  were  making  super- 
human efforts  to  push  off  the  boat,  when  a  man  on 
the  bank  called  out,  "  Whose  boat  is  that  ?  "  One 
of  our  men  replied,  "  Haji  Mat  Yassin's,"  having 
seen  his  boat  at  Blanja.  "  Where  are  you  from  ?  " 

266 


A   PERSONAL   INCIDENT 

was  the  next  inquiry,  and  the  reply  was,  "Blanja." 
"  Where  are  you  for  ? "  and  other  questions  fol- 
lowed, but  by  this  time  the  bow  of  the  boat  was  off 
and  we  were  drifting  stern-foremost  out  into  the 
stream  and  the  sheltering  fog.  As  the  distance 
widened  and  shouts  came  to  stop,  the  answers 
returned  were  derisive  and  misleading,  for  every- 
one felt  that  the  real  danger  was  past  and  the  life 
he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  lose  would  not  be 
required  of  him  that  night  after  all. 

It  was  true  that  we  had  yet  to  pass  the  Residency 
at  Bandar  Bharu,  five  miles  lower  down,  and  we 
had  been  told  this  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Maharaja 
Lela,  but  there  at  least  there  was  no  barrier,  and 
we  were  confident  that  we  had  nothing  more  to 
fear. 

We  passed  Bandar  Bharu  quietly,  we  saw  a  light 
on  each  bank  and  a  man  on  watch  by  the  light,  and 
we  said  to  each  other  that  it  would  be  very  easy  to 
shoot  the  men  as  they  placed  themselves  so  con- 
veniently en  evidence. 

Ten  miles  lower  down  the  river,  it  being  then 
only  3  A.M.,  we  were  suddenly  hailed  by  a  voice 
threatening  death  and  other  penalties  if  we  did  not 
immediately  declare  who  we  were.  That  was  a 
very  welcome  challenge,  for  I  recognised  the  voice, 

267 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

and  in  a  few  seconds  we  were  alongside  a  Selangor 
steam-launch. 

Only  then  we  learnt  that  Bandar  Bharu  had  not 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  we  had 
therefore  come  ten  miles  further  than  was  necessary ; 
but  we  congratulated  ourselves  on  the  forbearance 
we  had  shown  in  not  shooting  the  sentries,  and 
later  in  the  morning,  when  we  got  up  to  the 
Residency,  suggested  that  if  the  Sikh  felt  lonesome 
in  the  night  watches  it  would  perhaps  be  wiser  for 
him  not  to  stand  in  the  full  blaze  of  a  large  lamp. 

The  Maharaja  Lela  and  his  friends  professed 
themselves  both  surprised  and  disappointed  when 
they  found  I  had  arrived  at  Bandar  Bharu,  having 
passed  Pasir  Salak  without  their  knowledge.  I 
daresay,  however,  that  some  of  them  were  not  alto- 
gether sorry  that  they  had  been  spared  a  meeting 
with  Raja  Mahmud,  for  he  was  reckoned  a  mighty 
man  of  valour.  In  my  case  he  was  also  a  wise 
counsellor,  for  subsequent  disclosures  proved  that  had 
I  landed  at  Blanja  the  intention  was  to  immediately 
attack  and  murder  me,  and  when  we  so  abruptly 
left  that  place  the  ingenuous  Haji  Ali  and  his  friend 
the  Penglima  Prang  Semaun  with  a  number  of  their 
men  were  sent  after  us  in  fast  boats  on  a  mission 

similar  to  the  one  they  had  previously  undertaken 

268 


A   PERSONAL   INCIDENT 

and  successfully  carried  out.  As  we  saw  nothing 
of  them  I  conclude  they  did  not  exert  themselves  to 
overtake  us. 

During  the  subsequent  military  operations  in 
Perak,  Haji  Ali  fell  into  our  hands,  and,  after  some 
weeks  spent  on  a  British  man-of-war,  he  became 
quite  a  reformed  character.  I  occasionally  see  him 
now,  but  he  seems  depressed,  and  when  I  find  him 
looking  at  me  there  is  no  anger  in  his  face,  only  a 
great  sorrow  as  of  a  man  who  is  misunderstood  by 
the  world  and  who  suffers  without  resentment. 

I  don't  know  why,  but  this  expression  is  a  source 
of  unfeigned  amusement  to  the  Malays  who  happen 
to  see  it.  It  is  very  unfeeling  of  them. 


269 


XXI 
NAKODAH   ORLONG 

Two  things  greater  than  all  things 

are, 
One  is  Love  and  the  other  War 

RUDYARD  KIPLING 

ON  the  day  after  my  arrival  at  Bandar  Bharu, 
Captain  Innes,  R.E.,  came  from  Penang 
accompanied  by  two  officers  and  sixty  men  of  the 
First  Battalion  of  H.M.  loth  Regiment,  together 
with  the  Superintendent  of  the  Penang  Police  (Hon. 
H.  Plunket)  and  twenty  native  constables  armed 
with  rifles. 

Captain  Innes,  an  exceptionally  able  member  of 
his  distinguished  corps,  was  then  in  civil  employ  as 
head  of  the  Public  Works  Department  in  Penang. 
When  the  news  of  Mr.  Birch's  murder  reached  that 
place,  the  nearest  British  Settlement,  Captain  Innes 
was  sent  with  a  force  to  take  charge  of  the 
Residency. 

270 


NAKODAR   ORLONG 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  detail  the  subsequent 
events  except  in  so  far  as  is  necessary  for  a  right 
understanding  of  an  incident  connected  with  the 
death  of  a  man  called  Nakodah  Orlong,  a  Sumatran 
Malay. 

With  the  force  at  our  disposal,  which  included 
Lieut.  Abbott,  R.N.,  his  four  bluejackets,  and 
about  fifty  so-called  Sikhs,  it  was  determined  to 
attack  Pasir  Salak  before  the  Maharaja  Lela  had 
time  to  collect  a  large  following.  An  immediate 
advance  was  also  considered  advisable  to  prevent 
the  number  of  our  enemies  being  increased  by  what 
might  look  like  our  indecision.  With  Easterns,  to  sit 
still  and  stockade  your  position  is  probably,  under 
such  circumstances,  the  worst  course  possible. 

We  knew  that  the  Maharaja  Lela  was  throwing 
up  works,  not  only  in  his  village,  but  outside  of  it, 
and  to  force  them  it  was  decided  to  take  two 
howitzers  and  a  rocket-tube. 

The  distance  from  Bandar  Bharu  to  Pasir  Salak 
was  five  miles,  every  yard  of  it  covered  with 
vegetation  of  some  sort,  the  only  road  a  narrow 
path  by  the  river-bank ;  moreover,  Pasir  Salak  was 
not  on  our  side  of  the  river.  It  was,  therefore, 
settled  that  we  should  start  at  daylight  the  next 
morning,  the  /th  November,  in  boats,  that  we 

271 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

should  pole  up  stream  two  miles  and  walk  the  rest, 
the  guns  being  served  by  the  bluejackets  from  two 
boats  that  would  be  kept  in  line  with  the  shore 
party. 

All  that  was  wanted  was  a  body  of  scouts  to  feel 
the  way,  and  I  undertook  to  find  these.  There 
were  Raja  Mahmud,  his  two  followers,  and  the 
Manila  boy  already  spoken  of,  but  it  was  hard  to 
say  where  any  other  trustworthy  Malays  could  be 
got  at  such  short  notice.  Late  that  evening, 
however,  Nakodah  Orlong,  whom  I  knew  well,  came 
in,  and  when  I  asked  him  if  he  would  join  us  he  at 
once  consented,  and  said  he  could  bring  fourteen  of 
his  own  men  with  him.  That  made  us  twenty,  and 
was  enough  for  the  purpose. 

We  were  up  at  4.30  A.M.  on  the  7th,  got  all  the 
men  into  boats,  and  made  a  start  by  7.30  A.M.,  not 
without  difficulty,  however,  for  we  were  hard 
pressed  for  hands  to  do  the  poling.  It  was  only 
after  we  had  started  that  I  learnt  the  intention  of 
taking  guns  had  been  abandoned,  a  very  unfor- 
tunate change  of  plan  as  it  turned  out.  To  attack, 
without  guns,  any  work  defended  by  Malays  means 
a  certain  sacrifice  of  life,  as  we  found  to  our  cost, 
and  took  care  that  the  mistake  was  never  repeated. 

The  carriage  of  guns  and  rockets  through  the  jungle 

272 


NAKODAH   ORLONG 

means  delay  and  hard  work,  but,  whatever  the 
trouble  and  delay,  hardly  any  consideration  will 
justify  an  attack  without  at  least  one  gun. 

The  river  journey  was  accomplished  without 
incident,  a  landing  was  effected,  and  the  party 
moved  off.  The  scouts  were  in  front,  followed  at 
an  interval  by  half  the  detachment  of  the  lOthr 
Captain  Innes  and  the  sailors  with  a  rocket-tube 
came  next,  then  the  Sikhs  and  Penang  Police  under 
Mr.  Plunket,  and  last  of  all  the  remainder  of  the 
roth  Regiment. 

We  began  the  march  gaily  enough,  not  expecting 
to  meet  with  any  resistance  till  near  Pasir  Salak. 
After  walking  a  mile  or  so,  always  close  by  the 
river-bank,  we  came  to  a  large  field  of  Indian  corn. 
The  plants  were  eight  or  ten  feet  high,  and  so- 
thick  and  close  that  it  was  impossible  to  see  more 
than  three  or  four  yards  in  any  direction  ;  the  ground 
between  the  corn-stalks  was  planted  with  hill-padi, 
and  that  was  a  couple  of  feet  in  height. 

On  entering  this  field  we  opened  out  to  cover 
as  large  a  front  as  possible,  and,  when  half  way 
through  the  corn,  passed  a  gigantic  fig-tree  growing 
on  the  edge  of  the  river  bank.  On  my  right  was 
Nakodah  Orlong,  and  to  the  right  of  him  one  of  his 

men  called  Alang;  on   my  left  was  Raja  Mahmud 

273  s 


MALAY    SKETCHES 

the  Manila  boy,  and  the  rest  of  the  scouts.  We 
had  been  walking  fast,  and  of  the  rest  of  the  force 
we  could  see  and  hear  nothing. 

We  were  talking  and  laughing  (being  still  a  long- 
way  from  Pasir  Salak)  when  suddenly  we  came  to 
the  end  of  the  cover,  for  the  last  few  feet  of  the 
corn  had  been  cut  down.  At  this  moment  Nakodah 
Orlong  said,  "  There  they  are,"  and  the  words  were 
hardly  out  of  his  mouth  when  we  were  greeted  by 
a  volley  from  the  enemy  concealed  behind  a  stockade 
not  a  dozen  yards  in  front  of  us. 

Nakodah  Orlong  fell  without  uttering  another 
sound,  and,  the  enemy  maintaining  a  brisk  fire,  our 
position  was  so  uncomfortable  that  my  own  inclina- 
tion was  unhesitatingly  to  get  out  of  the  way. 
Probably  my  intention  was  apparent,  for  Raja 
Mahmud  said,  "  Stand  fast  and  shoot."  I  was 
obliged  to  him  and  followed  his  advice,  but  as  the 
Manila  boy  and  I  were  the  only  possessors  of 
shooting-weapons,  and  the  enemy  were  hidden 
behind  a  rampart  of  logs  and  banana-stems,  while 
we  had  no  shelter  whatever,  our  continued  exis- 
tence was  due  simply  to  their  want  of  skill. 

The  absurdity  of  the  situation  was  apparent,  and 
its  unpleasantness  was  heightened  by  the  opening 

of  a  brisk   fusilade  in  our  rear.      That  decided  us 

274 


NAKODAH   ORLONG 

and  we  stepped  back  under  cover,  and  then  moved 
to  the  sheltering  trunk  of  the  fig-tree.  Arrived 
there  we  found  that  besides  Nakodah  Orlong  (about 
whose  fate  there  was  no  doubt,  for  he  fell  within  a 
yard  of  me),  Alang  was  the  only  one  missing.  He 
was  the  last  man  on  the  right,  and,  as  no  one  had 
seen  him,  we  concluded  that  he  also  had  been  killed. 
It  was  at  once  proposed  that  we  should  go  back  and 
secure  the  bodies,  but  our  own  people  keeping  up  a 
merciless  discharge  in  rear,  and  the  enemy  doing 
their  best  in  front,  we  were  between  two  fires,  and 
thought  it  best  to  try  and  stop  our  friends  at  any 
rate  from  shooting  us. 

We  shouted,  but  that,  of  course,  was  no  use,  no 
one  could  either  see  or  hear  us,  and  it  was  some 
minutes  before  we  were  able  to  let  Captain  Innes 
know  of  our  position.  In  that  time  we  realised 
that  even  a  large  tree  offers  poor  shelter  from  a  cross 
fire.  It  did  not,  however,  take  us  long  to  decide 
that  the  side  towards  the  enemy  was  the  safest. 

That  was  only  the  beginning  of  misunderstanding  ; 
twice  again  during  the  day  we  were  placed  in  the 
same  uncomfortable  position,  and  a  man  kneeling 
behind  me  was  shot  in  the  back  of  his  thigh.  Once 
also  the  Sikhs  made  a  determined  attack  on  the  men 
with  me  as  we  were  trying  to  outflank  the  Malays, 

275 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

and  in  spite  of  our  shouts  only  desisted  when  almost 
within  touch  of  us.  It  is  true,  of  course,  that  the 
cover  was  so  dense  they  could  not  see  us  until  the 
last  moment.  They  were  so  dispirited  by  this  waste 
of  effort,  that  they  incontinently  left  the  place  and 
went  straight  home  in  spite  of  all  Plunket's  attempts 
to  stop  them.  That  was  in  no  sense  his  fault,  for 
they  were  not  his  men,  and  he  had  never  seen  them 
before  the  previous  evening.  The  Penang  police 
had  retired  en  masse  at  an  even  earlier  hour,  and 
explained  afterwards,  with  much  force,  that  it  was 
not  for  this  kind  of  work  that  they  had  engaged. 

The  enemy's  stockade  was  a  long  rampart  im- 
penetrable to  bullets ;  it  was  faced  by  a  deep  and 
wide  ditch  cut  at  right  angles  to  the  river,  with  one 
end  on  the  bank  and  the  other  in  high  jungle.  The 
work  was  backed  by  a  thick  plantation  of  bananas, 
affording  perfect  cover,  and  those  defending  it  were 
commanded  by  the  Maharaja  Lela  in  person,  and  his 
father-in-law  Pandak  Indut,  foremost  of  Mr.  Birch's 
murderers. 

I  am  not  now  concerned  with  the  details  of  the 
attack,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  it  did  not  take  long 
to  prove  how  serious  a  mistake  had  been  made  in  leav- 
ing the  howitzers  behind.  The  rockets,  an  old  pattern, 

were  ineffective,  and  as  they  all  went  over  the  top  of 

276 


NAKODAH   ORLONG 

the  stockade  were  greeted  by  the  jeers  of  the  enemy. 
We  were  close  enough  to  hear  even  what  they  said 
in  the  intervals  between  the  firing.  Experience  is 
usually  costly,  and  what  we  learnt  on  the  7th  en- 
abled us,  a  week  later,  to  carry  this  and  a  succession 
of  other  stockades  without  the  loss  of  a  man. 

About  I  P.M.  (our  force  being  then  reduced  to  the 
officers,  the  men  of  the  roth,  bluejackets,  and  Malay 
scouts)  Captain  Innes  gave  the  order  to  charge  the 
stockade.  That  was  done,  but  without  guns  to  clear 
the  way  it  was  a  hopeless  task.  We  could  not  get 
across  the  ditch  in  the  face  of  an  unseen,  protected 
enemy,  while  we  were  entirely  at  their  mercy.  We 
had  to  retire  with  the  loss  of  Captain  Innes  killed, 
both  the  officers  of  the  loth  (Lieutenants  Booth  and 
Elliott)  severely  wounded,  and  other  casualties.  If 
men  with  weapons  of  precision  and  the  knowledge 
to  handle  them  had  held  the  work,  none  of  our 
party  ought  to  have  escaped.  But  with  Malays  you 
can  take  liberties  ;  their  weapons  take  some  time  to 
load,  but  they  are  deadly  enough  at  a  few  yards 
distance  if  the  men  who  hold  them  would  not  fire  at 
the  tree-tops.  The  Malay's  idea  is  to  loose  off  his 
piece  as  often  as  he  can,  it  makes  a  noise  and  that 
puts  heart  into  the  man  who  fires,  fear  into  the  enemy. 

Though  we  had  gained  nothing  by  rushing  the 
277 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

place,  the  enemy  did  not  like  that  style  of  attack 
and  retired,  only  we  did  not  know  it  then.  We  were 
engaged  in  counting  the  cost,  picking  up  the  wounded 
and  organising  an  orderly  retreat,  for  it  was  late,  we 
had  some  miles  to  go,  and  we  expected  the  Malays 
would  leave  their  shelter  and  come  after  us.  Per- 
sonally I  did  not  know  Captain  Innes  had  been 
killed,  I  was  in  the  centre  and  he  was  on  the  extreme 
right.  My  party  was  hampered  by  having  to  carry 
a  wounded  man,  and  when  we  got  back  to  the 
middle  of  the  field  where  Abbott  and  Plunket  were 
waiting,  Innes  and  the  others  had  already  been 
taken  away.  We  had  no  surgeon,  no  stretchers, 
and  the  return  journey  was  one  that  is  not  pleasant 
to  recall. 

We  reached  our  boats  at  3  P.M.,  and  the  Residency 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  later. 

For  some  time  I  was  very  busy  trying  to  attend 
to  the  wounded,  but  then  my  Malay  friends  asked 
me  for  a  boat,  as  they  said  they  must  go  and  fetch 
Nakodah  Orlong's  body,  and  see  what  had  become 
of  Alang.  A  British  soldier  was  also  missing.  I 
gave  the  boat  and  they  started. 

About  8  P.M.  they  returned  with  Alang  and  the 
body  of  his  chief ;  they  had  met  the  lad  swimming 
down  the  river  with  his  master's  body. 

278 


NAKODAH   ORLONG 

When  Nakodah  Orlong  fell,  and  the  rest  of  us 
got  away  behind  the  great  tree,  this  boy  stayed  by 
the  dead  man,  and  as  he  was  right  in  the  line  of  the 
thickest  cross-fire,  Alang  pulled  the  body  as  close 
to  the  bank  as  he  could,  and  there  remained  from 
morning  till  evening,  making  no  sign,  but  simply 
declining  to  abandon  the  corpse.  A  man  even 
came  out  from  the  stockade  and  attacked  him  with 
a  kris,  wounding  him  on  the  hand,  but  Alang  beat 
him  off.  After  the  final  charge,  when  our  people 
passed  close  by  him,  it  was  he  who  saw  the  Malays 
retire,  and  he  allowed  us  all  to  go  away  and  leave 
him  without  giving  any  indication  of  his  where- 
abouts. 

Then,  the  coast  being  clear,  unable  to  carry  the 
body  so  great  a  distance,  he  dragged  it  into  the 
river  and  was  swimming  down  stream  with  it  when 
the  boat  met  him. 

I  went  down  to  the  boat  to  see  Nakodah  Orlong ; 
he  looked  just  as  I  had  seen  him  last,  except  that 
his  hair  and  clothes  were  drenched  with  water  and 
there  was  a  great  hole  in  the  centre  of  his  forehead, 
marking,  no  doubt,  the  track  of  an  iron  bullet  from 
a  swivel-gun.  Of  that,  however,  he  could  never 
have  been  conscious,  nor  yet  of  the  devotion  of  the 
man  whose  life  had  been  in  extremest  peril  through- 

279 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

out  a  long  day  to  guard  his  chiefs  dead  body,  with- 
out thought  of  gain  or  praise,  only  determined  that 
none  but  loving  hands  should  be  laid  upon  the 
voiceless,  pulseless  clay  he  once  called  master. 

Given  a  glorious  sunny  day  and  a  good  cause, 
the  idea  of  ending  existence  suddenly  and  painlessly 
in  the  pride  of  life  and  in  face  of  the  foe  has  its 
attractions,  and  robs  the  inevitable  of  its  sting. 

But  who  can  hope  that  after  his  death  there  will 
be  one  other  being  whose  love  is  great  enough  to 
offer  his  own  life  a  willing  sacrifice  to  guard  the 
thing  that  was  to-day  a  friend  and  to-morrow  will 
be  corruption  ? 


280 


XXII 
EVENING 

Phoebus  loosens  all  his  golden  hair 
Right  down  the  sky 

ERIC  MACKAY 

THE  tale  of  these  little  lives  is  told.  If  I  have 
failed  to  bring  you  close  to  the  Malay,  so 
that  you  could  see  into  his  heart,  understand  some- 
thing of  his  life,  and  perhaps  even  sympathise  with 
the  motives  that  will  lead  him  to  acts  of  high 
courage  and  self-sacrifice,  then  the  fault  is  mine. 

The  glory  of  the  Eastern  morning,  the  freshness 
and  the  fragrance  of  the  forest,  the  sultry  heat  of 
these  plains  and  slopes  of  eternal  green  on  which 
the  moisture-charged  clouds  unceasingly  pour  fat- 
ness— these  are  the  home  of  the  Malay,  the  back- 
ground against  which  he  stands. 

Come,  we  have  done  with  it  all ;  let  us  leave  the 
plain,  seething  in  the  heat  of  early  afternoon,  and 
ride  up  this  mountain  path,  through  all  the  wealth 

281 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

and  the  magnificence  of  tropical  jungle,  and  look 
down  on  the  land  for  the  last  time. 

Our  callous  eyes — surfeited  with  years  of  gazing 
on  brilliant  colours,  great  stretches  of  sea  and 
forest,  huge  trees,  a  bewildering  luxury  of  foliage, 
beasts  measured  by  the  elephant  and  rhinoceros, 
birds  by  the  argus  pheasant  and  the  peacock — are 
blind  to  the  infinite  beauty  of  our  surroundings. 
This  path,  by  which  we  slowly  rise  to  cooler  alti- 
tudes and  a  new  flora,  would  excite  in  the  stranger 
feelings  of  wonder  and  rapturous  delight. 

The  road  itself  is  cut  through  soil  of  a  deep 
shade  of  terra  cotta}  the  colour  all  the  more  vivid  by 
reason  of  the  hues  of  green  by  which  it  is  environed. 
The  sunlight  strikes  in  rays  of  brilliant  light  across 
this  path,  falling  on  red  soil,  granite  boulder  and 
massive  tree-trunk,  intensifying  colour  and  deepen- 
ing shadow.  Here  and  there  are  seen  glimpses  of 
the  plains  below,  the  distant  sea,  the  peaks  and 
valleys  of  other  hill  ranges,  and  the  ear  constantly 
catches  the  delightful  sound  of  falling  water,  the 
voices  of  numerous  streams  dashing  down  the 
steep  mountain  sides  in  cascades  of  sparkling 
foam. 

The  path  twists  and  winds,  often  by  sharp  zig- 
zags, up  the  face  of  the  hill,  across  a  narrow  saddle 

282 


EVENING 

and  then  by  an  even  steeper  ascent,  till  at  last  we 
gain  the  summit  of  the  mountain. 

Stand  here.  The  limit  of  vision  is  wide ;  you 
will  scarce  find  a  grander  spectacle  in  this  Peninsula. 
We  are  nearly  5,000  feet  above  the  sea,  and  from 
north  to  south  the  eye  travels  over  a  distance  not 
far  short  of  two  hundred  miles.  Eastward,  those 
distant  hills  are  fully  a  hundred  miles  away,  and 
soon  on  the  western  horizon  the  sun  will  meet  the 
sea  in  a  blaze  of  glory,  as  though  kindling  at  the 
touch  of  loving  arms  long  waiting  for  his  coming. 

That  faint  blue  peak  in  the  north,  hazy  and 
indistinct,  is  Gunong  Jerai  in  Kedah,  and  the  island 
to  the  westward,  which  smiles  through  a  golden 
veil,  is  Penang.  A  grey  streak  of  water  shot  with 
gleams  of  sunlight  divides  it  from  the  mainland,  and 
the  forty  miles  of  country  thence  to  the  foot  of  this 
hill,  and  far  south  again  to  those  blue  islets  off  the 
Binding  coast,  lie  flat  and  fertile,  a  feast  for  the 
eyes.  Vivid  green  patches  mark  thousands  of  acres 
of  sugar-cane  and  rice-field,  but  the  general  effect  is 
an  unbroken  expanse  of  dark  jungle,  mostly  man- 
grove, for  all  this  land  from  hill-base  to  sea-shore  is 
of  comparatively  recent  formation,  the  erosion  from 
the  hills  carried  down  seawards  and  covered  with  a 
wealth  of  foliage  ever  renewed  by  the  excessive 

283 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

heat  and  excessive  moisture  of  this  forcing  tropical 
climate.  No  rocks,  no  bare  hills,  no  arid  plains, 
everything  covered  with  vegetation :  new  graves  look 
old  in  a  month,  the  buildings  of  a  year,  for  all  their 
seeming,  might  have  stood  for  half  a  century. 

Only  at  our  feet  does  the  hand  of  man  make  any 
mark  on  the  landscape.  There,  amid  trees  and 
gardens,  nestle  the  red  roofs  of  Taiping.  You  might 
cover  the  place  with  a  tablecloth  for  all  its  many 
inhabitants,  its  long  wide  streets,  open  spaces,  and 
public  buildings. 

And  those  pools  of  water  all  around  the  town, 
what  are  those? 

They  are  abandoned  tin-mines,  alluvial  workings 
from  which  the  ore  has  been  removed,  and  water 
mercifully  covers,  in  part,  this  desolation  of  gaping 
holes  and  upturned  sand. 

The  shore,  due  west  and  distant  some  twenty 
miles  from  the  foot  of  the  range  on  which  we  stand, 
is  deeply  indented  by  three  great  bays.  They  are 
the  mouths  of  three  rivers,  short,  shallow  and  insig- 
nificant in  themselves ;  it  is  difficult  to  understand 
why  they  should  make  such  an  imposing  entry  on 
the  sea.  A  mile  or  two  inland  from  the  coast  the 
eye  is  caught  by  twenty  little  lakes,  on  which  the 
sun  loves  to  linger,  burnishing  them  to  gold  when 

284 


EVENING 

the  setting  in  which  these  jewels  lie  has  turned  to 
purple.  They  are  fragments  of  estuaries,  deep 
waveless  lagoons  winding  through  the  mangroves, 
and  showing  to  the  distant  spectator  only  broken 
reaches,  glimpses  of  bay  and  headland. 

The  shore-line  is  a  ribbon  of  glistening  light, 
bordering  the  wide  expanse  of  forest  trees,  whose 
roots  stand  deep  in  water  when  the  tide  is  high. 
The  mangrove  cannot  live  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
brine  from  which  it  seems  to  draw  the  sap  of  life, 
and  these  mud  flats,  in  their  gradual  accretion,  are 
as  yet  scarcely  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

Turning  to  the  north-east,  a  deep  valley  lies 
beneath  us,  the  source  of  a  long  river,  the  Kurau. 
Miles  and  miles  beyond  rise  range  after  range  of 
lofty  mountains,  Biong  and  Inas  and  Bintang, 
running  into  the  heart  of  the  Peninsula.  Further 
eastward  is  the  country  near  the  sources  of  the 
Perak  River,  and  across  the  narrow  valley,  through 
which  its  upper  waters  dance  in  a  succession  of 
rapids,  may  be  discerned  peaks  of  the  mam  range 
which  look  down  on  the  China  Sea. 

Now  we  are  facing  the  south-east  and  the  valley 
of  the  Perak  River.  The  ridge  on  which  we  stand 
divides  it  from  the  Province  of  Larut,  and  surely 

there  are  few  fairer  sights  in  the   East  than  this 

285 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

same  valley  through  which  the  river,  plainly  visible 
twenty  miles  away,  winds  in  a  silver  streak.  On 
the  right  stands  Gunong  Bubu,  the  isolated  mass 
terminating  in  a  needle-like  point  nearly  6000  feet 
high.  The  spurs  of  this  mountain  spread  out  in 
every  direction,  north  to  the  Pass  from  Larut  into 
the  Perak  Valley,  east  to  the  Perak  River,  and 
southwards  nearly  to  the  coast.  In  the  south-east, 
across  the  Perak  River,  rise  five  or  six  ranges  of 
hills  of  ever-increasing  height.  Over  the  first  range 
can  be  seen  the  valley  of  the  Kinta,  with  its  many 
fantastic  limestone  cliffs  standing  clearly  out ;  then 
follow  Chabang,  Korbu,  and  finally  the  mountains 
dividing  Perak  from  Pahang.  Those  hills  fading 
out  of  sight  in  the  far-away  south  are  near  the 
borders  of  Perak  and  Selangor. 

As  we  turn  our  faces  back  to  the  setting  sun, 
the  great  disc,  now  grown  a  deep  crimson,  is  sink- 
ing through  a  bank  of  clouds  into  a  sea  of  flame. 
The  waters  beyond  the  influence  of  the  sun's  light 
are  a  brilliant  sapphire,  a  reflection  of  the  sky  above. 
There  is  only  one  long,  low  bank  of  cloud,  and  that 
is  on  the  horizon. 

A  moment  later  and  the  sun  itself  has  gone,  but 
from  the  spot  where  it  disappeared  is  radiating  a 
lurid  glow  which  kindles  the  clouds  into  fire  and 

286 


EVENING 

shoots  rays  of  gold  over  Penang  in  the  north  and 
the  Binding  Islands  in  the  south,  seventy  miles 
apart.  This  golden  light  spreads  for  a  space  up- 
ward through  the  bank  of  clouds,  till,  paling  into  a 
belt  of  grey  that  again  deepens  into  blue,  and  ever 
gaining  in  intensity,  it  rises  to  the  zenith  and  fills 
the  empyrean. 

Meanwhile  the  darkness  which  seemed  to  be 
settling  over  the  distant  eastern  ranges  is  gradually 
suffused  with  soft  tints  of  rose  doree,  transfiguring 
peak  after  peak  and  clearly  defining  every  ridge  and 
valley.  This  aftermath  of  day,  wherein  the  sun 
returns  to  kiss  the  hills  with  one  last  lingering 
caress,  fills  the  whole  atmosphere  with  a  rosy 
effulgence,  then  fades  reluctantly  away.  'Twixt 
western  sea  and  eastern  hill  lies  that  great  sea- 
indented  plain  over  which  night  settles  slowly  but 
surely,  while  still  the  sky  and  hills  are  vivid  with 
colour.  But  even  the  plain  assumes  its  night  garb 
with  no  less  grace  and  beauty.  A  faint  mist  has 
risen  from  swamp  and  river,  and,  spreading  itself 
over  the  land,  takes  soft  hues  of  opal  and  heliotrope 
deepening  into  purple,  while  only  the  pools  and 
river-reaches  shine  out,  like  scraps  of  mirror  steal- 
ing borrowed  glory  from  the  sky. 

Soon  this  light  wanes  ;  purple  turns  to  grey,  the 
287 


MALAY   SKETCHES 

colours  fade  from  sky  and  sea,  only  the  shore-line 
keeps  its  sheen.  Then  this  too  dies,  and  great 
white  clouds,  coming  from  out  the  mines  and 
marshes  like  a  troop  of  giant  spectres  risen  in  their 
grave-clothes,  stalk  slowly  round  the  foothills  of 
the  mountain,  through  the  Pass  into  the  valley  of 
the  Perak  River. 

Here,  at  this  elevation,  the  night  is  not  quite 
yet. 

Close  around  us  still  the  jungle,  but  the  trees  are 
dwarfed,  the  boughs  are  covered  with  moss  and 
lichen,  orchids  and  ferns  flourish  in  the  forks,  gor- 
geously blossomed  creepers  twine  round  the  branches 
and  hang  from  tree  to  tree.  The  air  is  full  of  the 
scent  of  the  magnolia,  the  moss-carpeted  ground  is 
gay  with  a  myriad  flowers,  some  brilliantly  plumaged 
songless  birds  flit  silently  between  the  trees,  and  a 
great  bat  sails  aimlessly  across  the  waning  light. 
The  shrill  scream  of  the  cicada  is  but  faintly  heard 
far  down  the  height,  and  night  comes,  like  a  closing 
hand  grasping  in  resistless  darkness  all  things 
visible.  The  only  sound  to  break  the  silence  is  the 
fitful  and  plaintive  croak  of  a  wood-frog. 

If  night  treads  closely  on  the  heels  of  day,  there 
is  no  need  for  regret.  The  darkness  is  but  for  a 
moment,  and  over  the  eastern  peaks  spreads  a 

288 


EVENING 

silvery  sheen,  herald  of  that  great  orb  of  splendour 
which,  rising  rapidly,  clears  the  mountain  and  sheds 
a  flood  of  wonderful,  indescribable,  mellow  radiance 
over  forest,  plain,  and  sea,  softening  what  is  crude, 
pointing  with  brilliance  the  most  striking  features, 
and  casting  into  a  fathomless  shadow  the  dark 
valleys  of  the  western  slopes.  There  is  nothing 
cold  about  this  Eastern  moon.  Seen,  half-risen, 
against  the  dark  foliage  of  the  mountain,  it  glitters 
like  molten  silver,  dazzling  the  eyes,  and  as  it  soars 
serenely  upward  seems  the  very  perfection  of  beauty, 
light,  and  purity. 

Strange  that  the  delight  and  glory  of  mankind 
since  ever  the  earth  was  peopled,  the  emblem  of 
unattainable  longing,  should  be  only  a  gigantic 
cinder. 


Printed  by  BALLANTVNE,  HANSON  Sf  Co. 
London  fif  Edinburgh 


List  of  Books 


IN 


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Belles   Lettres 


JOHN  LAME  PUB 
USHERS  BELLES 


TwcBODLEY  HEAD 
VIGO5TL°MD0MV 


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are  Published  at  Net  Prices 


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List   of  Books 

IN 

'BELL  6  S   LSTTR6S 

(Including  some   Transfers) 

Published    by    John    Lane 


Vigo   Street,  London,  W. 

N.B.  —  The  Authors  and  Publisher  reserve  the  right  of  reprinting 
any  book  in  this  list  if  a  new  edition  is  called  for,  except  in  cases 
where  a  stipulation  has  been  made  to  the  contrary,  and  of  printing  a 
separate  edition  of  any  of  the  books  for  A  merica  irrespective  of  the 
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sent  for  review. 

Most  of  the  books  are  published  simultaneously  in  England  and 
America,  and  in  many  instances  the  names  of  the  American 
publishers  are  appended. 


ADAMS  (FRANCIS). 

ESSAYS  IN  MODERNITY.    Cr.  8vo.    5*.  net.  [Shortly. 

Chicago:  Stone  &*  Kimball. 

A  CHILD  OF  THE  AGE.    (See  KEYNOTES  SERIES.) 


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ALLEN  (GRANT). 

THE  LOWER  SLOPES  :  A  Volume  of  Verse.    With  title-page 

and  cover  design  by  J.  ILLINGWORTH  KAY.    600  copies, 

cr.  8vo.     5.;.  net. 
Chicago:  Stone  6*  Kimball. 
THE  WOMAN  WHO  DID.    (See  KEYNOTES  SERIES.) 

BEARDSLEY  (AUBREY). 

THE  STORY  OF  VENUS  AND  TANNHAUSER,  in  which  is  set 
forth  an  exact  account  of  the  Manner  of  State  held  by 
Madam  Venus,  Goddess  and  Meretrix,  under  the  famous 
Horselberg,  and  containing  the  adventures  of  Tannhauser 
in  that  place,  his  repentance,  his  journeying  to  Rome,  and 
return  to  the  loving  mountain.  By  AUBREY  BEARDSLEY. 
With  20  full-page  illustrations,  numerous  ornaments,  and 
a  cover  from  the  same  hand.  Sq.  i6mo.  ios.  6d.  net. 

[/»  preparation. 
BEDDOES  (T.  L.). 
See  GOSSE  (EDMUND). 

BEECHING  (Rev.  H.  C.). 

IN  A  GARDEN  :  Poems.  With  title-page  and  cover  design  by 
ROGER  FRY.  Cr.  8vo.  5*.  net. 

New  York:  Macmillan  &  Co. 

BENSON  (ARTHUR  CHRISTOPHER). 
LYRICS.     Fcap.  8vo,  buckram.    $s.  net. 
New  York:  Macmillan  £r*  Co. 

BROTHERTON  (MARY). 

ROSEMARY  FOR  REMEMBRANCE.  With  title-page  and  cover 
design  by  WALTER  WEST.  Fcap.  8vo.  3*.  6d.  net. 

CAMPBELL  (GERALD). 

THE  JONESES  AND  THE  ASTERISKS.     With  six  illustrations 

and  title-page  by  F.  H.  TOWNSEND.     Fcap.  8vo.     y.  6d. 

net. 
New  York  :  The  Merriam  Co. 

CASTLE  (Mrs.  EGERTON). 

MY  LITTLE  LADY  ANNE  :  A  Romance.  Sq.  i6mo.  zs.  6d. 
net.  [In  preparation. 

Philadelphia :  Henry  Altemus. 


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CASTLE  (EGERTON). 

See  STEVENSON  (ROBERT  Louis). 

CROSS  (VICTORIA). 

CONSUMMATION  :  A  Novel.    Cr.  8vo.    4*.  6d.  net. 

[In  preparation. 
DALMON  (C.   W.). 

SONG  FAVOURS.  With  a  specially  designed  title-page.  Sq. 
i6mo.  3-y.  6d.  net.  {In  preparation. 

Chicago:   Way  &  Williams. 

D'ARCY  (ELLA). 

MONOCHROMES.    (See  KEYNOTES  SERIES.) 

DA  VIDSON  (JOHN). 

PLAYS  :  An  Unhistorical  Pastoral ;  A  Romantic  Farce ; 
Bruce,  a  Chronicle  Play  ;  Smith,  a  Tragic  Farce  ;  Scara- 
mouch in  Naxos,  a  Pantomime.  With  a  frontispiece  and 
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Ballantyne  Press.  500  copies,  sin.  410.  ys.  6d.  net. 

Chicago:  Stone  &»  Kimball. 

FLEET  STREET  ECLOGUES.    Fcap.  8vo,  buckram.    5*.  net. 

{Out  cf  print  at  present. 

A  RANDOM  ITINERARY  AND  A  BALLAD.  With  a  frontispiece 
and  title-page  by  LAURENCE  HouSMAN.  600  copies. 
Fcap.  8vo,  Irish  Linen.  55.  net. 

Boston :   Copeland  &  Day. 

BALLADS  AND  SONGS.    With  title-page  designed  by  WALTER 

WEST.    Fourth  Edition.     Fcap.  8vo,  buckram.     5^.  net. 
Boston:  Copeland  &  Day. 

DAWE  (W.  CARLTON). 

YELLOW  AND  WHITE.    (See  KEYNOTES  SERIES.  ) 

DE  TABLEY  (LORD). 

POEMS,  DRAMATIC   AND  LYRICAL.    By  JOHN  LEICESTER 
WARREN  (Lord  De  Tabley).   Illustrations  and  cover  design 
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DE  TABLEY  (LORD). 

POEMS,  DRAMATIC  AND  LYRICAL.    2nd  series,  uniform  in 
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New  York :  Macmillan  6*  Co. 

DIX  (GERTRUDE). 

THE  GIRL  FROM  THE  FARM.    (See  KEYNOTES  SERIES.) 

DOSTOIEVSKY  (F.). 

(See  KEYNOTES  SERIES,  Vol.  III.) 

ECHEGARAY  (JOSE). 
See  LYNCH  (HANNAH). 

EGERTON  (GEORGE). 

KEYNOTES.    (See  KEYNOTES  SERIES.) 

DISCORDS.    (See  KEYNOTES  SERIES.  ) 

YOUNG  OFEG'S  DITTIES.     A  translation  from  the  Swedish  of 
OLA  HANSSON.    Cr.  8vo.    3^.  6d.  net. 

Boston:  Roberts  Bros. 

FARR  (FLORENCE). 

THE  DANCING  FAUN.    (See  KEYNOTES  SERIES.  ) 

FLETCHER  (J.  S.). 

THE  WONDERFUL  WAPENTAKE.    By  "A  SON  OF  THE  SOIL." 

With    18    full-page  illustrations  by  J.    A.    SYMINGTON. 

Cr.  8vo.  5-r.  6d.  net. 
Chicago:  A.  C.  McClurg  &>  Co. 

GALE  (NORMAN). 

ORCHARD  SONGS.     With  title-page  and  cover  design  by  J. 
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Also  a  special  edition  limited  in  number  on  hand-made 
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New  York:    G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 


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GARNETT  (RICHARD). 

POEMS.     With  title-page   by  J.   ILLINGWORTH    KAY.    350 

copies,  cr.  8vo.     5^.  net. 
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DANTE,  PETRARCH,  CAMOENS.  CXXIV  Sonnets  rendered 
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GEARY  (NEVILL). 

A  LAWYER'S  WIFE  :  A  Novel.    Cr.  8vo.    4J.  6d.  net. 

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THE  LETTERS  OF  THOMAS  LOVELL  BE&DOES.  Now  first 
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Also  25  copies  large  paper,    izr.  6d.  net. 
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GRAHAME  (KENNETH). 

PAGAN  PAPERS  :  A   VOLUME  OF  ESSAYS.    With  title-page 

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Chicago:   Stone  &  Kimball. 

THE  GOLDEN  AGE.    Cr.  8vo.    y.  6d.  net. 
Chicago  :  Stone  6s  Kimball, 

GREENE  (G.  A.). 

ITALIAN  LYRISTS  OF  TO-DAY.  Translations  in  the  original 
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New  York:  Macmillan  &•  Co. 

GREENWOOD  (FREDERICK). 

IMAGINATION  IN  DREAMS.    Crown  8vo.    5*.  net. 
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HAKE  (T.  GORDON). 

A  SELECTION  FROM  HIS  POEMS.    Edited  by  Mrs.  MEYNELL. 
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by  GLEESON  WHITE.    Cr.  8vo.     $s.  net. 
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HANSSON  (LAURA  MARHOLM). 

MODERN   WOMEN  :   Six  Psychological  Sketches.     [SOPHIA 

KOVALEVSKY,  GEORGE  EGERTON,  ELEONORA  DUSE, 

AMALIE  SKRAM,  MARIE  BASHKIRTSEFF,  A.  EDGREN 
LEFFLER.]  Translated  from  the  German  by  HERMIONB 
RAMSDEN.  Cr.  8vo.  y.  6d.  net.  [In  preparation* 

HANSSON  (OLA). 
Su  EGERTON. 

HARLAND  (HENRY). 

GREY  ROSES.    (See  KEYNOTES  SERIES.) 

HAYES  (ALFRED). 

THE  VALE  OF  ARDEN,  AND  OTHER  POEMS.    With  a  title- 
page  and  cover  design  by  E.  H.  NEW.  Fcap.  8vo.    y.  6d. 
net. 
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HEINEMANN  (WILLIAM). 

THE  FIRST  STEP  :  A  Dramatic  Moment.    Sm.  410,  y.  6d.  net. 

HOPPER  (NORA). 

BALLADS    IN    PROSE.    With  a  title-page   and    cover    by 

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HOUSMAN  (LAURENCE). 

GREEN  ARRAS  :   Poems.     With  illustrations  by  the  Author. 
Cr.  8vo.     5-r.  net.  [/« preparation. 

IRVING  (LAURENCE). 

GODEFROI  AND  YOLANDE  :  A  Play.    With  3  illustrations  by 
AUBREY  BEARDSLEY.    Sm.  410.    $s.  net. 

\In  preparation. 

JAMES  (W.  P.). 

ROMANTIC  PROFESSIONS  :  A  volume  of  Essays.    With  title- 
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New  York:  Macmillan  6*  Co. 


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JOHNSON  (LIONEL). 

THE   ART   OF   THOMAS    HARDY.    Six  Essays,  with  etched 
portrait  by  WM.    STRANG,  and  Bibliography  by  JOHN 
LANE.     Second  edition,  cr.  8vo.     Buckram.     5.1.  6d.  net. 
Also  150  copies,  large  paper,  with  proofs  of  the  portrait. 
j£u.  is.  net. 
New  York :  Dodd,  Mead  6»  Co. 

JOHNSON  (PAULINE). 

THE  WHITE  WAMPUM  :  Poems.    With  title-page  and  cover 

designs  by  E.  H.  NEW.    Cr.  8vo.     5*.  net. 
Boston:  Lamson,  Wolffe  &  Co. 

JOHN  STONE  (C.  E.). 

BALLADS  OF  BOY  AND  BEAK.    Sq.  samo.    as.  6d.  net. 

\In  preparation. 
KEYNOTES  SERIES. 

Each  volume  with  specially  designed  title-page  by  AUBREY 

BEARDSLEY.    Cr.  8vo,  cloth.    $s.  6d.  net. 
Vol.     i.  KEYNOTES.    By  GEORGE  EGERTON. 

[Seventh  edition  now  ready. 

Vol.    ii.  THE  DANCING  FAUN.    By  FLORENCE  FARR. 
Vol.  in.  POOR    FOLK.     Translated  from  the  Russian  of  F. 
DOSTOIEVSKY  by  LENA  MILMAN,  with  a  preface  by 
GEORGE  MOORE. 

Vol.  iv.  A  CHILD  OF  THE  AGE.    By  FRANCIS  ADAMS. 
VoL    v.  THE  GREAT  GOD  PAN  AND  THE  INMOST  LIGHT. 
By  ARTHUR  MACHEN. 

[Second  edition  now  ready. 
Vol.  vi.  DISCORDS.    By  GEORGE  EGERTON. 

{Fourth  edition  now  ready. 
Vol.  vn.  PRINCE  ZALESKI.    By  M.  P.  SHIEL. 
Vol.  YIII.  THE  WOMAN  WHO  DID.    By  GRANT  ALLEN. 

{Fifteenth  edition  now  ready. 

Vol.   ix.  WOMEN'S  TRAGEDIES.    By  H.  D.  LOWRY. 
Vol.    x.  GREY  ROSES.    By  HENRY  HARLAND. 
Vol.  xi.  AT  THE  FIRST  CORNER,  AND   OTHER  STORIES. 

By  H.  B.  MARRIOTT  WATSON. 
VoL  xn.  MONOCHROMES.    By  ELLA  D'ARCY. 
Vol.  xiii.  AT  THE  RELTON  ARMS.    By  EVELYN  SHARP. 


10  THE    PUBLICATIONS    OF    JOHN    LANE 


KEYNOTES  SERIES. 

Vol.  xiv.     THE   GIRL  FROM  THE   FARM.    By  GERTRUDE 
Dix. 

Vol.  xv.      THE    MIRROR    OF    Music.     By    STANLEY  \  V 
MAKOWER. 

Vol.  xvi.     YELLOW  AND  WHITE.    By  W.  CARLTON  DAWE. 
Vol.  xvn.    THE  MOUNTAIN  LOVERS.    By  FIONA  MACLEOD. 
Vol.  xviii.  THE  THREE  IMPOSTORS.    By  ARTHUR  MACHEN. 
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LANDER  (HARRY). 

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\ln  preparation. 
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See  STODDART. 

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Transferred  by  the  Author  to  the  present  Publisher. 

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THE    PUBLICATIONS    OF    JOHN    LANE  II 


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MACLEOD  (FIONA). 

THE  MOUNTAIN  LOVERS.    (See  KEYNOTES  SERIES.) 

MAKOWER  (STANLEY  V.). 

THE  MIRROR  OF  Music.    (See  KEYNOTES  SERIES.) 

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14  THE    PUBLICATIONS    OF    JOHN    LANE 


RHYS  (ERNEST). 

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[In  preparation. 
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WATSON  (WILLIAM). 

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4J.  6d.  net. 
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14  THE    PUBLICATIONS    OF    JOHN    LANE 


RHYS  (ERNEST). 

A  LONDON  ROSE,  AND  OTHER  RHYMES.    With   title-page 
designed    by    SELWYN    IMAGE.     350   copies,    cr.    8vo. 
$j.  net. 
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ROBINSON  (C.  NEWTON). 

THE  VIOL  OF  LOVE.    With  ornaments  and  cover  design  by 

LAURENCE  HOUSMAN.    Cr.  8vo.    5^.  net. 
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ST.  CYRES  (LORD). 

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8vp.  5-r.  net.  \Inpreparation. 

SHARP  (EVELYN). 

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SHIEL  (M.  P.). 

PRINCE  ZALESKI.    (See  KEYNOTES  SERIES.) 

STACPOOLE  (H.  DE  VERE). 

DEATH,  THE  KNIGHT,  AND  THE  LADY.  Sq.  i6mo.  zs.  6d. 
net.  \_ln  preparation. 

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PRINCE  OTTO  :  A  Rendering  in  French  by  EGERTON  CASTLE. 
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Also   100  copies  on  large  paper,  uniform  in  size  with  the 
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LANG.     Fcap.  8vo.     55.  net. 
Chicago :   Way  &•>  Williams. 

STREET  (G.  S.). 

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Transferred  by  the  Author  to  the  present  Publisher. 
New  York :  The  Merriam  Co. 


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SWETTENHAM  (F.  A.}. 

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TENNYSON  (FREDERICK). 

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TYNAN  HINKSON  (KATHARINE). 

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MIRACLE  PLAYS.  [In  preparation. 

WATSON  (ROSAMUND  MARRIOTT). 

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by  R.  ANNING  BELL.  Fcap.  8vo.  4^.  6d.  net. 

[In  preparation. 
WATSON  (H.  B.  MARRIOTT). 

AT  THE  FIRST  CORNER.     (See  KEYNOTES  SERIES.) 

WATSON  (WILLIAM). 

ODES,   AND  OTHER  POEMS.     Fourth  Edition.     Fcap.   8vo. 

41.  6d.  net. 
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1 6  THE    PUBLICATIONS    OF    JOHN    LANE 


WATSON  (WILLIAM). 

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SELECT  CONVERSATIONS  WITH  AN  UNCLE,  NOW  EXTINCT. 
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SAPPHO.  Memoir,  text,  selected  renderings,  and  a  literal  trans- 
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Boston :  Copeland  &  Day. 


I 


14  DAY  USE 

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